Mishaal Al Gergawi

Solitary Man

2012-01-22T23:49:00.001-08:00

To be alone. A solitary man of sorts. Intermissioned by the encounter of magnitude in-between passionate solitude.

To be a wanderer of hollow caves among crowds of slaves.

To be superior with your interior and ambivalent of all things pseudo material.

Take me to your nest. Show me your eggs. Lay on them for me as I once laid on you. Dear mother of other, I shall not be like my fellow brothers.

I will take you to my crest. Deep in the treasonous ocean of my mind we shall sail. Be the pirate of my thoughts and dig deep for that blood studded gold others once fought and lost within me. I remain yours... only if you will concur my wind.

Release you

2012-01-18T14:31:00.000-08:00

Oh friend, lover, path trotter. You knew before I that all this you prefix with an e and an x. Oh friend, what frost has come over your voice? What crude has vexed your tone? What winds have stolen your thumping heart? Oh lover, you only lust and even then only if you must. Oh path trotter, you care so much less about all that is this mess around. I don't recognise all the souls that occupy your eyes.

But I remember it all, the warmth of your voice, the soft tones and your great thumping heart. I remember the cries, highs and longing. I remember you when you cared. Indeed, I preferred you angry.

Oh friend, I wrote you a hundred word letter five times over that I could not send because I release you.

I release you to the garden you covet. I release you proud to have coveted you until you told me it could no be so. I release you with no charge or bond. You are my defendant no more. You are free to reign all the hearts that you please, but not mine.

THE (L)END

2012-01-11T15:28:00.000-08:00

"Fuck fuck fuck! I've never done this before," she said. He drove to the darkest corner he could find. She looked behind a few times before she could stare at him, squeezing his hand. It was the end. Uneventful, slow and numbing. He tried to be angry, excited or even reactive. In th end he shuddred into her shoulder as she did into his. "It will be ok," she said. He could only respond with his eyes. "This is like gutting my eyes while I'm awake" he wanted to scream at her. She read him well but couldn't acknowledge it. She was numbing out already. He squeezed her hand anyway. He screamed vicariously through it. Surreal? No, it was real and perhaps that's why it was real.

He calls her and they are reminded how much this is real.

"I have to go." He drives back. She jumps out and calls him right. She sends him another picture. The last picture. A memento? Or for safe keeping? It doesn't matter. This hurts anyway. The end remains unchanged.

They talk about this and that and bid their farewell. It's short. It's over. He drops the phone. He sighs aware of all the emptiness he must now roam.

AL NASR CINEMA: WHY CAN’T IT LIVE FOREVER?

2012-01-04T12:15:00.000-08:00

The Dark Knight was released last weekend and is apparently the bestBatman film yet. I have heard stories of it being played back to back 24hours a day in theatres in London. Batman in 1989 – with Jack Nicholsonas the Joker – was the first movie I ever went to see in a cinema. Myparents took me to watch it at the Galleria in the Hyatt Regency on aFriday; suffice to say, a life-long fascination with film began that day –but more specifically with watching films in cinemas. Beyond BrandonLee’s The Crow, I don’t remember watching any other film at the Galleria.That was because my favourite cinema was Al Nasr in Bur Dubai.

Drive down Sheikh Rashid Road from Wafi towards the Sana intersection,turn right at the ENOC exit and you’ll find it down the road just on theroundabout. Everyone who has grown up here has memories at Al Nasrcinema in Bur Dubai; special birthday outings, great films and – dare Isay it – first dates. It was wonderful, fun, and above all it was an authentic place. Seats inthe orchestra were Dh9 and – if you were pretentious or just an adult –the balcony was Dh15.

As Dubai’s development moved south-west along its backbone towardsJebel Ali, so did the people – and eventually Bur Dubai’s demographicchanged. Al Nasr struggled to cope, and with the emergence of the theatremultiplex phenomena it was forced to change its programming andbecome a screener of south Asian films. A few years ago, even thatpolicy lost its commercial viability, mainly as a result of the competitionfrom the Indian mega cinemas in Dubai.

Today, if you pass by Oud Maitha road and take a left on 10th streetyou will see a hunchbacked structure as you approach the roundabout:a dust-draped, closed theatre. If you park your car in the now emptyparking lot and walk up those once-memorable stairs, you’ll see brokenglass at the ticket counter and no posters in the hallway. Cinema Al Nasr’sowners have made the strategic decision to redevelop the location intoa business hotel.

Why the owners have taken this decision is beyond the function of thisarticle; in the end, one must remember that it was always meant as asupplementary attraction and more importantly as a revenue generatorfor the owner. What is within the purpose of this piece is to take a lookback at a period in our short modern history that tends to fall in thecracks between the tectonic plates of heritage preservation on the onehand and modern development on the other.

Both are noble and justifiable causes, yet the determined manner inwhich both are being championed leaves little support for what lies inthe limbo between them. Perhaps we are unable to connect to our recentpast, which is why we have such a schizophrenic relationship with it.

Are we so bewildered by the pace of development that as individuals–and institutions – we fail to see that not too long ago our past used tobe our present? So we seem to have resigned ourselves to the fact thatour only history is in the mud homes built before the age of oil. To meit seems that if it’s not made of mud and palm thatch, it had better bemade of shiny glass.

Those were interesting times, when we first struck oil. We had to grow inthose exciting times. There were many thoughts and stories by oratorsclose and far, yet we navigated safely through them all. And now thetimes are even more exciting. But to make sure we are moving forwardinto the future that we all desire, it would be wise to take a loving lookback at one of our first cultural urban institutions because Al Nasr cinemacontinued to have soul – but I feel that as its soul became stronger, itstime was made shorter.

I wish that someone would ask the owners to halt their plans for itsdemolition, and I wish that in return they would be given land somewhereelse where they could build their hotel. Then we could have Al NasrCinema again. I know that it could be reopened and still be authentic. Nasr Cinema is not a heritage site, it is an urban site. Harlem has theApollo and we could have Al Nasr, but we must first learn to remember itall: our past and our present, with all the cracks in between.

Originally published in The National on 31/07/08.

The year I killed peter pan

2011-12-29T03:32:00.000-08:00

Beyond all springesque clichés of the year, it’s been one of deep realisations, reflections and much age coming. The year neverland wasn’t just left but taken down altogether. The show was over and life took over. It was an ugly year too where we all had to confront the uglies and cowards inside and slay them, if we could only will ourselves to be so just and cruel.

I cried a lot this year… maybe it was my prescribed spectacles. I sighed a lot this year… maybe it was all the animism that travelled through me. I also laughed and smiled and met wonderful people. Some of you know who you are because you’ve seen your effects on me. Some of you know who you are because I just had to tell you. Some of you don’t and you are the truly beautiful ones.

I ached for much this year... disoriented and disarmed, I was at once numb and fleshed. This feeling left me in a state of suspended time and space.

Fierce and bloody, this year was real with all its triumph and tragedy. I endeavoured to capture the essence of what had passed... an impossible task that I may never cease to attempt. It is my most glorious failure that requires me to be at once hopeless and ever attempting, a purgatorial nirvana if you may.

This year I learned again that I was not who I was sure I was the year before. I am glad for all the years and all the lessons.

This year I was disappointed by those I once disappointed but guessed it was only fair; a year where I paid back long overdues.

This is the year I killed peter pan and left neverland to metaland.

I see gravel ahead. Real gravel.

٢٠١٠

2011-01-09T12:59:00.001-08:00

ألفا عام وعشرة أتت بعدها... تلك الأخيرة عنت لنا الكثير.

فقدنا الكثير وكسبنا شيئاً جديداً... أو لعله كان قديماً أضعناه في خضم التضخم. لم يعوض هذا عن ذاك ولم يكن الفقدان بالضرورة ضرورياً. يعلم الله أننا لهثنا خلف سراب الواحة بعد أن جفت بحيرتنا لثمان مئة يوم. لا نعلم كم بقي في محافظنا ولكننا نعلم ما نود أن تزخر به عقولنا وتتدفق به قلوبنا.

رأينا الظروف القاسية تظهر فينا طبائعاً حسبناها بالية. حكمنا على غيرنا بالقسوة وغلظة القلب وبررنا غلظتنا بظروفنا. أخطأنا بحق أنفسنا قبل غيرنا. ضحينا بأخلاقنا من أجل ثروتنا. نسينا أن السلوى لا الثروة هي التي تبهج النفس وتطمئن القلب. ألم يحن الأوان لذاك السلام؟

ألفين وعشرة انقضت، وها نحن لازلنا هنا. عفا الله عن ما سلف ولكن ماذا فعلنا من أجلنا ومن أجل الخلف؟ فقدنا الكثير بعد أن وعدنا أنفسنا بالكثير.

تعلمت الكثير... عن نفسي، وعن البصير الذي أعمى نفسه والأعمى الذي أبصر.

ألفين وعشرة، قلت فيها الكثير وأنا سعيد لقوله. رأيت رجالاً يرهنون أخلاقهم لينقذوا أموالهم وآخرين يسخرون من مبادئٍ هم يوماً ساندوها ثم رأيت جماعةً أخرى تساوي الشريف بالدنيء بين المطرقة والسندان. حزنت لهذا وذاك وكل ما فات حتى لم استطيع أن أكتب. خسرت مالاً وتجارة في ألفين وعشرة وخسرت رجالاً حسبتهم أشداء لا يرضون أن يشهدوا باطلاً حتى يصلحوه. حزنت للأمرين لكن هيهات بين تعويض المال والرجال. زرت فيها بيت الله بعد غياب وأكملت نصف ديني وأحمد الله على حالي.

ألفين وأحد عشر، عامٌ رمادي. نملؤه بالأمل عنوةً لسأمنا حلكة ذاك الذي إنصرم. لكن الرماد غدار: يبدو دافئاً ولكنه في الواقع متسخ. أحلامنا كبيرة وطموحاتنا شاهقة ولكن واقعنا يصرخ مطالباً بأسسٍ أقوى وأهدافٍ أوضح. مسيرات الإزدهار تحتاج أن نزرع حدائقاً في أشرفة أرواحنا قبل أبنيتنا.

Twenty Ten: the year everything (un)happened

2011-01-09T12:38:00.001-08:00

This January to December was the year to remember. Every year is special because it just happened. This year was special because during it much happened and even more un-happened.

This January to December was the year to remember. Every year is special because it just happened. This year was special because during it much happened and even more un-happenedIn January I believed the truth would set you free… even make the blind see. By February I realised that the blind were unwittingly the bespectacled of a darkish tint. By March I had come to see that it was I who was blind to the nature of their lack of sight… They were afraid of the sun and all the light that may come with it. By April I had realised much more than I care to share and I couldn’t write anymore. By May I was clear that the meetings of minds were intersections as opposed to the making of acute angles and my soul needed to pray again. By June I realised that well done to some was medium to some and rare to others. By July I saw that tweets were like sweets than feasts; an attempt to reboot one’s palette as opposed to broaden it. By August I saw quote-ers quietly unquote. By September I saw how high the bar of morality really was to some, or most. By October I came through for my hashtag partner and myself. By November I went public with how much I liked my town. By December I was ready to write again.

Twenty Ten, saw much gain and loss; the former mostly spiritual and intellectual and latter mostly material. It was a year of revelations of one’s soul and society’s capacity and role.

Twenty Ten, showed me my true colors, your true colors and their true colors. It was the year of the raw. The year where everyone came out naked and made a huge bonfire out of all their closets. For a moment, we were all in it together. That moment has passed. In our bid to survive, we slay the cattle we could find, eat their flesh, wear their skin and leave the weak, young and old behind. Twenty Ten was hard for all… but it was hardest for the morally inclined.

What I learned/reaffirmed in Twenty Ten:

- Just because it feels good doesn’t make it right

- Just because it hasn’t happened yet doesn’t mean it’s not going to

- We’re all mortal… all fallible… and most importantly vulnerable to loss

- If you have to lose your soul in the process of saving yourself, I don’t want to know what’s left.
If twenty ten made you numb, I will run as far as I can from where you came from. I always preferred you angry

In short, Twenty Ten was the ultimate year to #knowthyself.

Twenty Eleven will be the year of the pendulum and sails with little push and air. Twenty Eleven will be the year of grey waits and hopeful stairs; a year where hesitant ambition of Twenty Ten will attempt to find a home but only to rent a room. A year where I write again, I have a job again, and where I take the dues of others as my own. I enter it with confident humility, measured audacity and material spirituality.

A second museum for Zayed

2011-01-03T06:43:00.000-08:00

The institution built to encapsulate the vision of the late Shaikh Zayed reminds us of his immense contributions

A little over a month ago, Elizabeth II, the queen of England, and His Highness Shaikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, inaugurated the Shaikh Zayed Museum in Abu Dhabi.

The museum is meant to capture that spirit by which the late ruler and our founding father united the seven emirates into a modern federation and how he lived his life before and after that feat.

The ceremony was beautiful. It was both warm and statesmanlike. Most importantly it was understated, which I thought was absolutely fitting for the legacy of the late Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan. Think about it, Shaikh Zayed was the epitome of all that would become virtuous of the Emirates. He remained the same wise and frugal man he was before the discovery of oil. He was a man of focus with two life goals in mind: the attainment of a just peace and sustainable prosperity for his citizens and neighbours.

Throughout the inauguration’s proceedings, I couldn’t help think it a bit odd to refer to the museum as the first museum for Shaikh Zayed. After all, the whole of the Emirates was his museum. If a private fine arts museum is meant to showcase the collection of its patron, then the museum of a royal statesman would showcase his collection; and what a collection it is.

From urban housing projects to desalination, schools to hospitals and peace treaties to trade agreements, Shaikh Zayed’s collection of work is all around us.

In his reign, literacy rates reached 93 per cent and infant mortality rates dropped from 62 per 1,000 to just 7. The economic output has increased eightfold and he effectively urbanised Bedouins, a goal he’d set himself that many doubted.

Future generations

I will visit the museum often, but I believe my visits will be more important when I take my children there. My children won’t grow up watching Shaikh Zayed speak live on TV.

To them, he will be the founding father we all drop whatever we’re doing and stare at the screen when his archive words of wisdom are played on TV. They will respect him but will not understand what he did, how far he went and his staunch refusal to accept anything less than a citizenship of a modern nation for his people.

This museum is for us, but more so for the future generations that will visit it to remember not to take the UAE for granted. Those future generations whom I wish for them to understand what the seven Arab Emirates were before they were United. To say that building a museum about Shaikh Zayed, which the future generations will be able to relate to, is challenging is an understatement.

Beyond this museum, the generation of my children will have nothing to understand the founder of the Emirates except our tales and photographs. The museum will have to be comparatively relevant, anecdotally rich and visually immersive. This should go beyond enlarged photo archives and video screening rooms. Those are good but they will probably resonate with tomorrow’s youth as much as the Second World War’s footage would with European teenagers.

Time capsule

The museum, which I imagine will be designed in chronological phases, should literally transform the visitor into that specific time. For example, looking at the period when Shaikh Zayed was the ruler of Al Ain in the late 1940s, a tour of a typical house or village in the oasis together with visualizations of:

Inflation-adjusted average income and expenses of a typical Al Ain resident at the time and now.
List of calorie-counted daily diet then and now. A replica of the actual lunch would go very far with the mental transformation.
List of the illnesses that were prevalent at the time compared to present.
List of the (limited) resources at Shaikh Zayed’s disposal at the time versus the challenges he faced then, e.g., famine and tribal defection.
Something like the above would go very far to demonstrate to the visitors of the museum in, say, 2025 how much was achieved and how much life has generally improved in just 50 years.

The history of the UAE has been documented and safeguarded quite well; a special mention goes to Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, for his crucial patronage of the National Centre for Documentation and Research.

In other words, we have the content, which is usually the hard part. What we need to do now is to ensure that the display and communication of that content is approached in a fresh and contemporary manner.

The love we have for Shaikh Zayed is unlimited and unbound, this museum will allow all those who will come after us to develop the same kind of relationship we had with our father.

Until then, everywhere I look and everything I see is another pavilion in Shaikh Zayed’s first museum: the Emirates.

The article originally appeared in the Gulf News.

متحفٌ ثانٍ لزايد

2011-01-03T06:38:00.001-08:00

في أواخر نوفمبر الماضي قامت الملكة إليزابيث الثانية مع الشيخ محمد بن راشد آل مكتوم بتدشين متحف الشيخ زايد. يهدف المتحف إلى عرض حياة الوالد المؤسس محتفياً بإنجازاته التنموية كفارس و قائد منذ ترعرعه ثم دوره كممثل الحاكم لمدينة العين و من ثم حكمه لإمارة أبوظبي حتى تأسيس الإتحاد و نجاحه المنقطع النظير. كان الإحتفال راقياً و هادئاً و ذو رونقٍ رئاسي. كانت هذه كلها سماتٍ لقب بها بو خليفة فجاء التدشين لائقاً بقائد لم يعرف البذخ أو الإبتذال. فقد كان لحكيم العرب هدفان لم يتغيرا طوال حياته: السلام و الرخاء لشعبه و جيرانه.

لم أستطع أن أمنع نفسي من أن أستغرب للإشارة إلى المشروع إلى أنه المتحف الأول لزايد. أليست الإمارات كلها متحفاً لزايد؟ من مشاريع الإسكان و التحلية مروراً بالتعليم و الصحة وصولاً إلى إتفاقيات التجارة و التعاون السلمي. إنجازات زايد تملئ الإمارات حتى تكاد أن لا تسعها. في عهد زايد انخفضت نسبة الأمية إلى ٧٪ و نسبة وفاة الرضع إلى ٧ في كل ١،٠٠٠ من ٦٢. كما ارتفع الناتج الإقتصادي ٨ أضعاف.

سأقوم بزيارة المتحف بشكل دائم بلا شك. لكن سيكون لزيارتي أهميةٌ أكبر حين يأتي اليوم الذي أصطحب فيه أطفالي. فهؤلاء لن يكبروا و هم يشاهدون عروض حية للشيخ زايد على التلفاز. و لن يروه و هو يزور المدارس و يستعرض الجيش. سيحترمونه و لكنهم لن يفهموه. لن يستطيعوا أن يتخيلوا كم سعى و ضحى و كم رفض أن يساوم على طموحاته لشعبه فلم يرضى لهم إلا أن يكونوا مواطني دولة حديثة.

هذا المتحف لنا ولكنه لهم بشكلٍ رئيسي. إنه لهم كي يحافظوا على كنز زايد و الإمارات: كنز الإتحاد.

بناء متحفٍ عن زايد هو شرفٌ كبير ومسؤوليةٌ أكبر و لكن الإنجازات عديدة و المواقف كثيرةٌ و الحمدلله. لكن بناء متحفٍ عن زايد لجيلٍ لم بعرفه كما عرفناه فيه شيئٌ من التحدي و قليل من الصعوبة. فكيف نشرح لجيلٍ نشأ و ترعرع في عصر النفط و الإزدهار عن أيام ما قبل الرخاء و الإتحاد. لذا تحسباً لعامل غياب معاصرة الأجيال القادمة مع القائد المؤسس لا بد للمتحف أن يركز على المقومات التالية:

- أن يكون ذو صلاتٍ مقارنة بين حاضر الزوار و الماضي المعروض.

- أن يكون غنياً بالقصص و المواقف الدالة.

- أن يستخدم الرسوم و العروض البيانية (جرافيك) لتوضيح التطورات والإنجازات.

الإشارة هنا لما هو بعد المعارض الفوتوغرافية و قاعات عرض التسجيلات الأرشيفية. هذا المجهود الطيب سيؤثر في الأجيال المعاصرة لا القادمة. تأثيره كتأثير مشاهد الحرب العالمية الثانية على الأوروبيين اليوم. على المتحف الذي أتوقع أن يقسم بشكلٍ زمني أن يقوم بنقل الزائر إلى تلك الفترة بشكل كامل. فلو أخذنا فترة حكم الشيخ زايد لمدينة العين في أواخر الأربعينات على سبيل المثال، فإن جولةً لنموذج قياسي لقريةٍ عيناوية مع رسومٍ بيانية توضح التالي سيكون لها أثر أكبر في إيصال مدى ضخامة إنجازات العقود الماضية لزوار المتحف في عام ٢٠٢٥:

- مقارنة معدل دخل و مصروفات الفرد في مدينة العين بين تلك الفترة و الآن معدلةً للتضخم.

- مقارنة مكونات الوجبات اليومية (مع حساب السعرات الحرارية) للفرد في مدينة العين بين تلك الفترة و الآن.

- مقارنة للأمراض المتفشية في مدينة العين بين تلك الفترة و الآن.

- قائمة بالموارد المحدودة للشيخ زايد كممثل الحاكم في مدينة العين مقارنة بالتحديات التي واجهها آنذاك.

تاريخ الإمارات موثق بشكل ممتاز. أخص هنا بالذكر الشيخ منصور بن زايد لقيادته و دعمه للمركز الوطني للوثائق و البحوث الذي بات خزانةً لتاريخ الدولة. إذاً فما دام التاريخ محفوظ و هو ما يكون عادةً الأمر الأصعب في عملية العرض التاريخي فأن ما علينا أن نقوم به الآن أن نعرض هذا المحتوى بأسلوبٍ عصريٍ مبدعٍ وخلاق.

الحب الذي نكنه لزايد لا حدود له. هذا المتحف سيسمح لمن سيأتي بعدنا بأن يُكَوِّن نفس العلاقة التي كوناها مع قائدنا وأبانا زايد طيب الله ثراه.

Why Park Fifty One is Park Fifty None

2010-09-03T06:47:00.000-07:00

I attended Imam Feisal Abdul-Rauf’s talk titled Islam, Tolerance and Pluralism in America at the Dubai School of Government (DSG) on Tuesday. Imam Abdul-Rauf is the man behind Park 51 - previously named Cordoba House, a 13-storey community center that will include a mosque.

I was seated by his side at Iftar, spoke to him briefly and heard him chat with DSG’s executive president, Nabil Al Yousef and listened to Abdul-Rauf’s lecture. Prior to attending the talk, I had read about the project, heard him defend it on a radio interview, Newt Gingrich and Sarah Palin’s criticisms and Keith Olbermann and Jon Stewart’s defenses.

He was successful in demonstrating how Islam had a lot of the values that the United States was found upon. This included recognition of property, anti-slavery rules and religious freedom. Beyond that unfortunately, Abdul-Rauf failed to be specific, clear and concise, both, during his comment and his Q&A session.

Citing the restoration of a synagogue Lebanon with Hezbollah’s blessing, I asked him if he thought Lebanese who had lost loved ones during the Israeli invasion of 2006 could equally oppose it for the same reason over 70% of New Yorkers oppose Park 51. I asked him if he thought that maybe it would hurt their feelings, that maybe it was too soon and that maybe what’s more beneficial to interfaith dialogue is to just have it first and pave the way for such centers. He responded vaguely, taking me through stories of olden days and closed finally by saying that time was running out; I was very disappointed by his answer.

My thoughts: He failed to show any form of empathy or understanding. Didn’t even mention 9/11 or Israeli invasion once in his response.

Among many other things, someone else asked him if he thought that renaming the project Park 51 from Cordoba House added “fuel to fire” and whether the project would be relocated or not. Abdul-Rauf said that Cordoba House was a temporary title and that a branding exercise resulted with Park 51 being chosen. With respect to the future of Park 51, he said the plans are being “cooked in the kitchen”; I was even more disappointed by his response to this one than I was with the one to mine.

My thoughts: Cooked in the kitchen? We have cooks now? Wasn’t this supposed to be just a community center? Bad choice of words Imam Abdul-Rauf.

Why I don’t support Park 51:

// The team behind Park 51 has effectively failed to be transparent and consistent about the center. This will add to the clichés that the extreme right propagates about Islam often.

// Abdul-Rauf seems adamant on moving ahead with the project and is happy to make it the battle ground for Islam and the west as it could be.

// Park 51 has committed to not accepting any money from non-American groups, Alas his Middle East tour is poorly timed; especially the GCC part. This is a community center in Lower Manhattan by American (Muslims), why is he involving Arabs and others Muslims in the conversation?

// My impression is – yes this the part where I will really judge Abdul-Rauf – that the Imam is interested in promoting inter-faith dialogue but wants to the own the conversation. I wouldn’t be surprised if he had aspiration to create the equivalent of a Muslims AIPAC – which isn’t a bad idea at all it’s just that he isn’t saying that at all.

Though Park 51 can’t be stopped from moving ahead, I think it shouldn’t. If it is opened it will resurrect a lot of Islamo-phobic sentiment that the net effect of the center’s contribution to dialogue would be negative. He says we don’t have much time to promote inter-faith dialogue and I agree but I think Park 51 would waste time, not gain it.

I believe inter-faith dialogue is very important for the future of a world we all share but this communication of this center's needs has been too mishandled by it's backers already.

PR bit: With the right message - about how he an American patriot and doesn't want to to divide his country - Abdul-Rauf could cancel the project and come out on top and in a better position to promote inter-faith dialogue than he'd ever be with the center.

#v2rpwb

2010-06-04T14:02:00.000-07:00

Emboss the deboss
Gain that which was once your loss

Commander of greased levers
Sticky is this dervish of yours but also clever

Your machine runs!
This is a mill of Korean Huns

Marvel at its sheen
Its lines are crisp, dark and clean

What forms that Bauhaus was too minimal to see
What norms from which Romantics could not veer

Too clean
Too dirty
How dare they declare the present a constant meal?
How dare they declare themselves exclusively worthy?

I am here because it is my choice
I am here because here is where I rejoice

I have salaries to make
to brothers of disciplined ambition

I have rent to keep
no time to sleep

I have pledged expectations
to partners I intend to keep

These profits are to be made
This world is waiting to be changed

No more flotilla
No more novella
An international Armada
And Faisal's story will mould
in all the ways it wasn't meant to be told

Time to sail the Gaza talk

2010-05-31T02:30:00.000-07:00

I have so much to do in June. I am supposed to start my Arabic column. I am meant to start a new business venture that will be instrumental in advancing many future concepts and ideas which I believe are important for this part of the world to advance. I am supposed to fix my knee (it clicks). I have other more urgent affairs which I can't share to address. I'm not sure if I'll get to do them. I'm not sure they are worth anything if I just watch humanitarian aid deliverers killed in international waters. I am not sure my life amounts to anything if I just watch humanitarian aid deliverers killed in international waters. I don't care to write about how to better utilise our parks or how strange it is we don't have door to door post. I want to join #flotilla. I want to join Abbas. I want to keep it real. If you know people who want to mobilise from anywhere in the world please contact me. I want to break this blockade. I don't want to hurt anyone. I am ready to go and God will go with us inshallah. Enough.

#SATC2 according to my sister

2010-05-30T02:22:00.000-07:00

Plot
The story is set two years after the events of the first film. The four friends now have lives that are more stressful than before. One of the characters of the movie (Samantha) is approached by an Arab Sheikh who he asks her to build a PR campaign for his business. He offers to fly her and her friends on an all-expenses-paid luxury vacation to Abu Dhabi. Meanwhile, Samantha, Charlotte, and Miranda run up against a culture clash in the Middle East, as their style and attitudes contrast with Muslim society.

Insight
Both SATC 1 and 2 have grossed well, but have been criticised for lacking any climax (no pun intended). The trailer of the movie invites people to see the ladies discover the forbidden fun city that is Abu Dhabi. Alas, the scenes depicting Abu Dhabi and the Arabian desert actually take place in North Africa. Emirates' officials turned down a request to film on location, forcing the crew to head to Morocco and recreate the Abu Dhabi setting. In 2008, the original "Sex and the City" film was not shown in the United Arab Emirates.

The truth of the matter
As I understood the movie has not helped to promote Abu Dhabi, but on the contrary providing an inaccurate portrayal of Abu Dhabi that is revolting and “disgusting” according to my sister who saw the film. Below is a list of things that made her feel that way:

Scene #1: Samantha gets an offer to come to Abu Dhabi to meet “ Sheikh Khalid” through her ex-boyfriend Smith who was in Abu Dhabi shooting a movie at the time. Sheikh Khalid offers to pay all the expenses of the girls, even a private jet.

Scene #2: Samantha claims she has heard of Dubai, but not of Abu Dhabi. The Sheikh responds to her by saying that Dubai’s future is over & Abu Dhabi is the new Middle East

Scene #3: Miranda becomes interested in the culture so she tries to learn Arabic

Scene #4: Carrie is impressed that “Pringles” chips are sold and marketed in Arabic while she was on the plane.

Scene #5: They arrive to the “AS IF” Abu Dhabi airport, which has nothing to do with the AbuDhabi airport with four chauffeured Maybach cars waiting for the ladies.

Scene #6: The security guards and individuals at check points in the airport are all females covered face-veiled (Niqab) in a very extensive and over the top manner.

Scene #7: An Emirati man from Abu Dhabi greets them, he doesn’t look from the UAE and speaks in a Levantine dialect.

Scene #8: In a traditional souk where spices and other traditional items are sold, Carrie witnesses a traditional slippers shop. Carrie becomes aggressive when asking the shop keeper the price of these slippers making him look like a complete illiterate.

Scene #9: Takes places on the pool where they lay in their bathing suits, and stare at the Emarati women who are laying there by the pool as well in an Islamic swim suit and a Niqab! They go further on to stare at the Emarati women when they eat their French fries with the niqab on.

Scene #10: Samantha is surprised when she falls for a Danish guy while in Abu Dhabi, because she never thought there are any well off handsome guys in this city.

Scene #11: Samantha gets caught and arrested, because she is seen being intimate with the Danish guy in public, however she claims they only kissed there was no sex. This changes when a condom accidently falls from her purse.

Scene #12: The Sheikh loses interest after Samantha gets caught, thus the hotel asks them to pay the rate of their stay which is up to $22K

Scene #13: Charlotte gets interested in buying a fake watch for her Jewish husband from the traditional souk. The watch shop owners torment the ladies because they didn’t buy anything

Scene #14: As men try to take away Samantha’s bag thinking she stole it, while the two parties pull the bag many condoms fall out of the bag. What does Samantha do? She stands in the middle of the market between everyone stating that she is here to F*** men.

RIP Harshi

2010-05-22T13:17:00.000-07:00

Have you ever lost a loved and wondered what to do with their contact name on your phone? Do you delete it? Can you? My uncle died nine years ago and I couldn't do it. But I couldn't keep using the phone either. I wanted to destroy it but I couldn't do that either. I hid it. It was an old Nokia. Eitsalat called it a Jafeer. I still have it. I used a Hudhud, then a string of Nokias, then three blackberries and now an iphone. I still have the Jafeer. All I have left of my uncle's possessions are a trucker cap, his desk name board and his contact stored on that phone and two messages from him that I was too busy to respond to asking me to call him back. I had become numb to that phone. Today I saw it again for the first time as I had seen it on Sept 24, 2001.

Harshi has a twitter account; a facebook account as well whose updates are probably searchable on google. If she had graduated she'd probably felt the need to get a Linkedin account too. Harshi's family and loved ones will always find her name. All they must do is type their own last name and they are bound to read her facebook updates on google. Who will turn all that off?

RIP Harshi, you are certainly in a better place than where we are.

(sur)real

2010-05-21T15:53:00.000-07:00

Who will keep it real my friend?
Who will set what is within about?
Who will walk the line without a fumble?
Who will walk the line still after the stumble?

Oh dear denial you are so terminal, won't you set her free?
Oh dear denial you are so terminal, you won't even let him flee?
Your chamber is dirty green and its keeper Gaia

Oh dear denial I know your function is to set them free without the knowledge to be
And for that and nothing else
For that and above all else
I am your foe

This isn't a club of members
I do not care to laminate their status
I do not know their title

This is a hub of all your creatures
The underground above ground
Your membership is your word
Your word is to be your best
Your best is greater than your present
Your present is greater than what is past
Your past is a collection of lessons you have cast
Your cast begins and will stream till that breath that is your last

I am fast
You are fit
Run with me
Let the slow be jealous
Tell the slow to be ambitious
Tell the slow to flow
Tell them we are all heirs of this world
Tell them we are heirs of this continent
and Gulf
and Union
and creek-ed city
and smaller bits such as town, home and room
Till (s)he realises (s)he is heir of (her/him)self

This is all yours
Your earth
Your eye
Can you see it my friend?

We will smile on top of the mountain of fountain
I will stroke the waves of your white hair while you evenly gaze at those white clouds that were gray and far for far too long

This is our debt to all our forebearers
This is our will to all our children
This is white clouds of curious spirits and white hairs of dignity that did not waver

Can you see it my friend?

#knowthyself and you will my friend.

لك الله يا وطني

2010-05-14T04:23:00.000-07:00

يتحدثون عنك كثيراً يا وطني

لكنهم نادراً ما يحدثونك

يتحدثون عنك كثيراً يا وطني

لكنهم يفعلون بعض ما يقولون

يتحدثون عن جراحك التي سيضمدونها قريباً يا وطني

لكنهم لايعرفون شيئاً عن نزيف ذاك الداخل الخفي

يتحدثون ولكن هل يقفون؟

وإن وقفوا هل يثنون؟

وإن لم يثنوا هل يصمدون؟

هل تستطيع؟

2010-05-14T00:44:00.002-07:00

هل تستطيع أن تراجع نفسك من دون أن تشاورها؟

هل تستطيع أن تنصر نفسك من دون أن تحابيها؟

هل تستطيع أن تصارح نفسك من دون أن تعذرها؟

هل تستطيع أن تفعل قبل أن تسأل؟

هل تسطيع أن تعطي قبل أن تأخذ؟

هل تستطيع أن تحافظ قبل أن تبذر؟

هل تستطيع أن تساهم قبل أن تطالب؟

هل تستطيع أن تنتج قبل أن تستهلك؟

هل تستطيع أن تفيق قبل ذاك السبات العميق؟

هل تستطيع أن ترد على زايد إذا حلمت به فسألك: ماذا فعلت للوطن بعدما اورثتك إياه؟

أعلم أنك تستطيع ولكني سئمت الإنتظار يا أخي والوطن يناظرك بصمت فمتى ترد عليه؟

a melee of thought and thunder

2010-05-05T07:20:00.000-07:00

a nest for thoughts
a nest for thoughts that amuse him and her
a nest for thoughts that bemuse all others

there is no space in his back
his back is full
his back is poked out

move on dagger holder
move on elsworth
find another
this one's freckles aren't so bright
his hair isn't quite ginger
did you say you don't mind ginger?
ginger minds you
take a bite or take a hike
do something!
don't linger
that's the greatest insult
here
try his shoulder
it is broad enough for your thorn

in the midst of the melee the bravest soliders with the largest of hearts pound with fear
in the midst of the melee we all have moments of self doubt
in the midst of the melee we all know the ONE

then we realise he was always there

4 conversations in 1 Beiruti day

2010-04-29T09:49:00.000-07:00

Lebanese gallerist ^ 10am-11.35am

Following the, now, (in)famous panel on Saadiyat's relationship to the traditional Arab world on Home Works 5, We spent a two hours discussing what could really happen. Beyond theorising who should say what to who, what could really happen?

We spoke about the three tools that can change societies;

1) Religion: An advisory opinion on an issue for change (fatwa) e.g. Al Azhar's fatwa that women's circumcision wasn't a religious requirement.

2) Politics: A break with existing policy e.g. King Abdullah establishment of KAUST as a mixed university.

3) Art

The difference with Art is that it's elitist which espouse a negative connotation to the literal. Yet it is this very elitist connotation due to the personal interpretive method of defining that art that makes it the vehicle where civic issues are debated before the it is possible with the above two. Moreover, it can be argued that Art prepares society for religious and political debate.

Belgian curator ^ 11.45am-1.15pm

We had a few days earlier and quickly found ourselves moving on from art to religion.

He explained that his interest in the Arab world stems from his curiosity in the Palestinian-Israeli situation. He couldn't understand how the Jews, a persecuted people, could become persecutors and in such a short time period; almost immediately he said. I said it made complete sense to me. Considering that they have been under the threat of extermination by several groups, it seems to me that, for Europe, giving the Jews Palestine was akin to their retirement plan, a pension of sorts. The Jews weren't going to risk losing it especially when you consider the Holocaust; it made them ruthless. He could agree but conceded that reality pointed towards my analysis.

After agreeing that no religious, philosophical or political group was going to dominate the world, we discussed the possibility of world peace in absence of tolerance of contradiction. This quickly led to us to the battle ground of Islam vs. the secular West. Van Laeken, being an atheist, said he believed in the goodness of the human soul. I told him that monotheists believe in the great human capacity for the opposite. Though romantic, we agreed this one pivotal point of different which affects expectation of both ends.

We then discussed where the battleground (of Islam vs the West) was and agreed that it was not in the Middle East nor was it in America or Afghanistan; it was in Europe. With what we called the 'Euro-Muslims' who, according to Van Laeken, were mostly muslim. He quoted an unknown who once said: "I want to conquer England but I want England to remain England". My immediate thought was that was probably why the Roman empire worked so well for so long, Carthage, Greece, Egypt and Anatolia were allowed to remain what they were but with a newfound Roman layer. This is where the Muslims of Europe have not succeeded; but why? We analysed, among others, the migration/arrival process, the failure of education, the end of the neighborhood and the legacy of migration. We discussed freedom of speech and the Danish sketches of the Prophet (PBUH) we made a very distinct analysis: According to Western secular values, the Danish paper - and its supporters - are not wrong philosophically. Yet, they have committed a massive error of strategic judgement. With the Euro-Muslim average birth rate over 3 times that of the average non-Muslim European, would it make sense to go to ideological war with them? They may have won this battle but at this rate they are certain to lose the war by way of extinction. We said that it is quite possible that Europe forgot how to be secular. But there was some hope: 1) Dutch authorities granting request of Muslim prisoners for Halal food. 2) Moroccan born, Ahmed Aboutaleb, who has dual citizenship, becoming first Muslim mayor of Rotterdam. He arrived to Europe at 18. <-- talk about a rising star!

What is needed is two fold;

1) A new Marshal plan. The Mohammed plan? No, just call it the M plan (M can refer to Michael, Mohammed or Moshe). Like the Marshal plan, the M plan would focus on rebuilding Europe again however it would recognise cultural and intellectual measures in addition to economic ones. The idea would be to be Europeans who are also Muslim. This would be the only viable way of building that Pax Europa layer that the Romans perfected so well (#random: Septimius Severus and his two sons were a black African Caesars.)

2) A coordination and canonisation of the works of proponents of moderate Islam (not Swiss-based Tariq Ramadan) that are based in the Middle East this would allow for a better understanding of a non-combative version of Islam in Europe.

We will stay in touch.

British-Lebanese technology and marketing executive 1.35pm-2.40pm

We discussed what the knowledge economy will really look like and I references my World Collaboration Manifesto piece as well as Danish Farhan's The Extinction of Specialisation. We discussed how it did not make sense to pay companies when the same expertise was out there. We acknowledged that the hardest part was convincing people interesting in freelancing that they could make a decent income and become independent. It was incredible how we got along and we saw things eye to eye, especially when it came to the idea that apprenticeship would return as the primary method of skill. Her understanding what Danish and I had in mind was more than accurate. We planned it all. She may be joining us for a project on that inshallah.

Tammam Yamout, PenguinCube design studio http://www.penguincube.com/ 3.05pm ^ 5pm

If I had studied design, lived in Beirut and opened my own practice my name would Tammam Yamout and my studio would be called PenguinCube. It took 5 mins. PenguinCube has by far the most interesting set up, approach and skill sets. They are 11 people. They do not do ads or below the line. They do not do circulate leaflets, brochures etc. They actually produce a product they give out to their 'existing' clients only. So what, right? This year's product is a cube with a battery powered screen that shows a penguin who's on loop; one action is added every 12 hours. It takes.... yes, 365 days to see the whole performance. It's on perpetual loop. No the batteries won't run out, they're especially ordered. Tammam showed me what they're toying with for next year's product: it makes this one look like VCD when the Blue-ray came out (yes, I intended to skip a generation or two). Penguin doesn't pitch not because they're snobs but because they like to have closer relationships with their clients. They spend 20% of their time spending their own money design projects they like (non-profits among others). They have some niche specialties like way finding signage design.

I spoke to him about what I wanted to work on and we saw eye to eye there too. We also shared the ideals what recreational activities mean and replacing work with vocation. I've asked him to come to Dubai soon so he can meet some tweeps. We will also collaborate on a few things in the future inshallah.

واحة إلهامي وعنوان أفكاري

2010-04-28T09:48:00.000-07:00

إنتي أكثر من رحلة مكان
إنتي أكثر من مسافر خانه أو بانسيون
إنتي كل مكان..

إنتي عنوان بليه سكان

بليه أرقام
إنتي نقطة ما تحتاج تنهي جملة
إنتي نقطة كاملة
إنتي نقطة صادقة
إنتي نقطة مبشرة
تبشر اللي فقد الأمل بالأمل نفسه إن فيضان الأمل جاي و جاي بعنفوان جبار
جاي و إنتي له سباحة
حورية بر وسما وبحر
بنبني برك و بنسبح سماك و بنطفوا خلجانك كلها
إنتي يا بنت الحكيم تبشرين اللي ما شاف القمر إنه بدرٍ ساطعٍ نوره في كل الأرجاء
حنا ما ننتظر شمسن بعدك عشان تفك عقدة إنسان
كم بتلهميني ولو أظن إني قضيت عمري كله أسولف معاك ما أظن إني بكتب ربع اللي عطيتيني إياه ترا كثير.. مره كثير

شلون نخذلك يا الوطن

2010-04-27T06:26:00.000-07:00

أيامنا فيها كلامٍ.. نبطي وفصيح

أنا بكتب وانتي بترسمين
و ثالثنا بلحن
و رابعنا بمثل
و خامسنا بيبني
و سادسنا بينشر
و سابعنا بحلل
و ثامنا بخيط
و تاسعنا بدرس
و عاشرنا بعالج
و حادي عاشرنا بيطعم الفقير حتى يصير قادر على أنه يطعم نفسه وعياله
و مثل ما الارقام ما تنتهي ترا الاشغال ماتنتهي

عزيزٍ علينا الوطن و عيال الوطن
و إن كان غيرك خذلك يالوطن ترانا نحن لك ذخرٍ
بعضه وصل و الباقي يبيله عمرٍ على عمر
إنت تعرف يا وطن إن الدنيا ما تخلى من الأفكار
لكن اللي شاح أهو حريمن ربوهن رجال و عقب ربوا رجال
حنا يالوطن مش جنود لك
حنا كلنا فرسان نعرف وين مصابك
بنعالج جروحك اللي تسيل من الخارج واللي بعدها تدمي من الداخل

يالوطن.. كثيرين تكلموا عن الوحدة
قالوا حنا عرب..
قالوا حنا مسلمين ..

حنا بس..
إنت بس..
زايد - الله يرحمه - بس أهو اللي جمع شمل عربانن عاربة و مستعربة
أهو اللي جمع شملهم من دون طلق نار ولا قطرة حمرا
عشان كذا إنت عزيز يا وطني
وشلون نخذلك يا وطني وإنت وصية زايد

سعد بيروت

2010-04-25T05:26:00.000-07:00

هل السعد على بيروت و أي سعد هذا وهو سعد السعديات اللي بيثري أرمن لبنان و شركس الأردن او كل أقلية وكل اكثريه
قول أسفرت و أنورت و لما يسألونك ليش قول لهم لأننا فشلنا مثل ما فشل فيصل و من قبله ناصر

أقعد عدل و ترحم على شيبانك.. اللي قالوا: حنا العرب حنا رجاجيل
قول طاح حظكم أنتوا واللي كنتوا تغنون وراهم
ترى هرجة العربان و الأخوان اللي تعلثوا بالإسلام اهيا اللي بيعتكم قبة الصخرة

و إنت اليوم جاي تبي تكلمني عن لوحة و متحف و عنوان؟
قول ألعن أبو جدك إنت صدق إنك ما تستحي على وجهك
وينك إنت و وين الإنسان؟

إنت مسخ تجمع في شكل إنسان ماسك فرشاة و تركض ورا الجوجنهايم والأعيان تبي معرض و بيان
و تبيع أوراقك بالملايين وعيال خالك يموتون بالدستة و تدفنهم جرافات بلية أكفان
و شلون هل جرافات تحترم إنسان وهي ما سمت بالرحمن؟

My response to Connor Purcell's defense of his Foreign Policy piece following my critique

2010-04-19T16:07:00.000-07:00

Recap:

1) Purcell's Dubai Goes Legit on Foreign Policy

2) My thoughts on the story

3) Purcell's defense

First,

CJP: Yes, maybe ‘many’ should have been ‘some’, but the opaque nature of society here means getting exact figures is difficult.

concedes that 'many' was excessive and that 'some' - which I still think is excessive considering some is not an indicative adjective, let alone a quantifiable one - would have been better. He blames the lack of transparency as the reason for the opaqueness of his assumption. This statement would hold if he had personally seen a 'significant number' of Emirati families moving to the desert. According to the Dubai's 2009 census, Dubai's population stood at 1.77 million at the end of 2009. Now depending on who you're speak to, Emiratis are estimated to be anywhere between 8-15% of the UAE's population with Dubai closer to the low-side of this estimatel; let's talk that for the sake of the argument. 8% of 1.77 million is 141,600 <- Emiratis living in Dubai. So I ask you this: how many Emiratis (of the 141,600) would have to move to the desert for a reporter to feel comfortable saying that that number constitutes a 'some'? I agree that some of 141.6 is below a 100, it's also below 50 and it's even below 25. So what's this number? 15? 10? Does he think 10,000 Emiratis have left Dubai and moved to the desert. Well he doesn't know. Purcell read an article written by Hugh Naylor in the National which references just two people of which, ironically, one is a retired ex-resident of Abu Dhabi, not Dubai, who has now moved to Bani Yas, a 30 min drive from Abu Dhabi. Isn't that what 'many' do when they retire all over the world? I resent the insinuation that this a national trend; some or many all the same. This is the story of two old guys who can't deal with traffic.

Second,

CJP: miss the point. The sentence was intended to say that the merchant families may be poorer (post crash) but are politically stronger. It was not comparing their wealth to the civil servant’s wealth. Bad sentence structure I agree.

In that case I agree. However, let us note that the income drivers are rooted in consumer demand driven products and services i.e. their loss of wealth is temporary as they are the blood line of the city.

Third,

CJP: I tried to get interviews with people from all the major semi-government bodies. Not one mail/call was returned. As a journalist this makes educated guesses unfortunately necessary. I have written stories about the Metro for foreign magazines and sent over ten (10!) mails and multiple calls to their PR without getting a single reply. And the guy wins PR of the year. People are going to write stories about Dubai with the best facts they have to hand – Dubai should be more proactive in disseminating those facts, it would certainly make my life easier.

I completely sympathise with Purcell on his frustration with being unable to get official statements from government officials. I have called for a proactive government information & communication office before; this has been our greatest failure during the crisis.

However, Purcell calls his guesses educated. I wonder how his guesses warranted such an adjective. Has he met the US-educated Sultan Bin Sulayem? Mr. Bin Sulayem studied in the US over two decades ago, how telling is it about his personality? Just as much, what does he know about Ali Lootah? What does he know about the Lootah family itself? Does he know they started what is considered the first Islamic bank in the world? Yes, that's meant as a testimony of progressiveness, not conservativeness. Does he know that the - very large - Lootah family is regarded as an enlightened family that has produced many poets, writers, scholars, tradesman and civil servants? We are not talking about a conservative house here by any means. To the contrary, they are viewed as incredibly enlightened family. How educated is Purcell guess about how Mr. Lootah is likely to manage Nakheel's affairs?

Fourth,

CJP: Sharjah did get bailed out by Saudi – I put it out there as something people were saying to me as a possible road Dubai might take but dismissed it. I think it’s fair comment.

No true. I would really like to see Purcell back this up with evidence.

FYI

Sharjah banned alcohol and imposed dress code shortly after its current ruler came to rule. I'm not sure what these financial woes of the 1980s that Sharjah went through unless he's talking about the 40% drop in oil prices in 1986 which affected the whole Gulf. Saudi's financial support was provided in recognition of Sharjah adherence to Islamic values as compensation for losses that would've been sustained due to that.

Moreover, the special Sharjah-Saudi relationship relates to the fact that Al Qassimi family adheres to the Hanbali school of thought, while Al Nahayan and Al Maktoum adhere to the Maliki school which together with two other schools constitute the four main schools of the Sunni sect. The relatively new school of thought, Wahabism - the moral high ground by which the house of Saud built the kingdom into its current form - was founded on the teachings of Ibn Taimiyya (1263-1328), who belonged to the Hanbali school of thought. Just take a look at how Saudi the names of the Al Qassimis (Sultan, Faisal, Abdulaziz, Khaled) are as opposed to the rest of the UAE's royal families.

Fifth,

CJP: I never said they asked – interference is far more covert than overt. I am sure there was no ‘phone call’ just as I am sure there is more AD influence on Dubai affairs in myriad ways I have no idea about.

Abu Dhabi would not and did not either covertly or overtly show interest in the name change; This was a gesture from Dubai.

Sixth,

CJP: I could have talked about Ras Al Khaimah’s relationship with the Revolutionary Guard in Iran but that would have been going off on a tangent and makes for an interesting article of its own. I could have talked about the security problems in Ajman but again, that is better saved for another article. Generalizations, as much as I want to avoid them, are necessary for brevity’s sake. Also try getting anyone on the record about Ajman last year for example.

I really encourage Purcell to attempt an article with facts and detailed stories about Ras Al Khaimah's 'shady' relationship with the 'Revolutionary Guard'; same goes to Ajman's 'security problems'. I would specifically like Purcell to demonstrate that these realities are actually taking place against Abu Dhabi's knowledge or will.

FYI

The Revolutionary Guard is the group that runs Iran. They own the businesses, the ports, the banks etc. Sure, they sound scary and wrathful but I'm sure China's ruling party has just as much a problematic name. More generally, this whole business of demonising Iran to be the top security threat to everyone from guys living in California to Bahrain's financial harbor to Uber-Nuclear Israel is frankly a joke. Iran wants recognition as a regional super power and has become convinced that pursuing nuclear power is the only path. US, EU and the GCC must develop new communication moods with Iran.

Seventh,

CJP: I think [Dr. Davidson] gets quoted so much because he is quite honest unlike many people in the UAE who won’t speak honesty (am not including you in this!) as they have too much too lose. I agree that he is over quoted, but if there were more Emirati analysts that would go beyond soundbites and truisms, they could be quoted. I had 3 other interviews I could not use, because they sloganeered and generalised and were unpublishable.

I think Dr. Davidson gets quoted so much because he's willing to talk about almost any issue from economic development to cultural affairs and then some. I also think that For someone who lives in Durham he's a pretty confident guy that he's 'on top of things' in the UAE. I personally find his analysis either generic or esoteric, rarely have I seen him accurately shed light on an opaque manner. Most recently I would collectively reference his comments on the late Sheikh Ahmad Bin Zayed's passing - how it was allegedly going to upset the balance of power within Abu Dhabi's ruling family, how ADIA's strategy could change based on who is appointed as his replacement and topping it all off of course was his comment on the appointment of Sheikh Hamid Bin Zayed as head of ADIA: "he was always the most likely candidate''. Really? Why didn't you say that beforehand? - as sensational. Let's face it, Abu Dhabi's succession plan has never been this clearly carved in stone, ADIA has a Business Continuity Plan (BCP) that is so solid that its investment decisions would not be materially affected even if it's complete board was wiped out and I'm sure it could've been two other members of the royal family just as much as Sheikh Hamid. So where is Dr. Davidson's know how that warrants the preeminent scholar in all things Emirati?

Anyway, he wrote the book and the second book and so it's obvious that he comes up on the list often. I'm not saying he shouldn't be quoted but that reporters should question the accuracy of the 'detail' he gives because it can be embarrassing.

I'm sure that you can find other Emiratis Sultan and Dr. Abulkhaleq are a good start, and there are others who are less general and can speak about specific sectors too.

My thoughts on Foreign Policy's Dubai Goes Legit story

2010-04-17T14:20:00.000-07:00

I have been casually bothered by the quality of coverage Dubai has received for many years now. The same publications, and some of writers, who blatantly paraded it as the beacon of hope of not only the Arab world but, frankly, the world, are now calling it the manifestation of all things wrong with Islam, capitalism and anything that comes in between. I’ve been casually bothered by it because, as I’ve said before, that the world is run those who show up; and we have failed to show up. This is all the more poignant when you think of how comfortable we were at promoting ourselves as the city of all things which I still believe we are meant to be: a culturally diverse, socially tolerant, economically diversified progressive emirate.

So when the Sun and or the Independent say Dubai is finished this lends itself to morning tea (with milk) ‘edutainment’. I say this because, save the Economist, British journalism has reached a state of disillusionment that is so senile that one can no longer expect objective coverage from it; everything has become tabloid.

When Foreign Policy (FP) magazine does the same my reaction is significantly higher than bothered and I assure you it is not casual either. My bias is by driven the high regard I hold the FP. Moreover, it was very unsettling to see how wrong they had gotten Dubai and how much of inaccurate picture was drawn.

After quoting Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi’s recent article calling clarity on public behavior and Dr. Abulkhaleq Abdullah’s calls for preserving national identity, they go on and quote that the National has said that ‘many‘ Emiratis are moving back to the desert because of the number of foreigners in Dubai. The National’s story doesn’t even come close to insinuating that the number of Emiratis moving to the desert is significant, let alone state that they are ‘many’. Alas, the average North American reader who relies on the FP for accurate ‘foreign’ analysis now thinks that Emiratis are deserting (all pun intended) their houses in Jumeirah for tents in Al Lisaili.

The story moves on to demystify the shift in power in Dubai Inc. They start off well, saying that astute members of merchant families of Dubai are taking over the helms from Western-educated Emiratis in public entities. Then they go on to state that those very merchant families are poorer but politically stronger than the Western-educated civil servants. How can the traditional merchant families be poorer than civil servants?! Even the corrupt ones. Then they site the replacement of Sultan Bin Sulayem as chairman of Nakheel with Ali Lootah as proof to that. What does Sultan Bin Sulayem’s American education have anything to do with his removal? Why isn’t Mohammed Al Abbar removed as well then? Could it perhaps be due to the varying levels of financial and managerial health Nakheel and Emaar are respectively in?

I especially enjoyed the drawing of Sultan Bin Sulayem as the young progressive Emirati and Ali Lootah (do they even know what he looks like?) as the epitome of all things conservative.

After this the story attempts to flirt with the possibility of Dubai becoming as conservative as Sharjah. They liken Dubai’s current financial troubles to Sharjah’s financial woes in the 1980s which allegedly called on Saudi for financial support and in return, by banning alcohol sale and consumption and enforcing a dress code, it became the UAE’s most conservative emirate. They quickly dismiss it as a far fetched scenario of course siting Abu Dhabi’s commitment to Dubai. FP Tabloid?

FP comforts though, saying that the Burj Khalifa name change is so far the only interference by Abu Dhabi in Dubai’s affairs so far. Let’s see, you provide a $20 billion bailout and you ask for a name change? Does anyone believe that a phone call came from Abu Dhabi ask for the tower's name to be changed? Petty analysis.

The Iranian analysis is probably the only interesting part of the article though it is too general and fails to understand how much more complex the UAE(not just Dubai)-Iran relationship is.

Only significant difference from the usual Dubai bashing article was the closing that Dubai will improve the manner by which it conducts its affairs and quoting three others analysts of Dubai beyond Professor Christopher Davidson.

I expected more from Foreign Policy, much more.

وطني

2010-04-15T10:17:00.000-07:00

أنا هنا في التفاحة الكبيرة وأجد نفسي أشتاق لتمورك الصغيرة

لست ضجراً لكنه لذيذٌ هذا السرحان الغارق فيك يا وطني

وطني

أود أن أقول لك الكثير وأعلم أنك تعلم أنه كثير

وطني

أعلم أنك تعلم أنني أحلم أحلامي المستيقظة واقفاً شامخاً

وأعلم أيضاً أنك تعلم أن فخري بك يعبر السماوات ليصل عيسى فيلقي عليه تحيةً سالمة ثم يرتفع حتى يكاد أن يناجي الله أن يفرجك من كرب من عاث بنفطك وشعبك فساداً

وطني

أعلم أنك تراني مستعجلاً

ولكنني أعلم أيضاً أنك تعلم أن إستعجالي ليس مراهقاً بل مناضلٌ

يناضل مرتزقتاً قد فرقهم من لم يرتزق مثلهم

يناضل نسأً ورجالاً منذ زمنٍ بعيد

يناضل مرتزقتاً أجرهم وغنيمتهم رفعتك وتقدمك يا وطني

وطني

قد حار دمعي في عيني

فسال

فلجمته

فإنفجرت كل عيوني ولم أجد لها سبيلاً إلا أن أطفو ثورتها

وكاد سيلانها أن يدعني في قاعها

وطني

قد جفت دموعي ولكن إلى حين

فإن أمطارك الحمضية لازالت تسيل

وطني

اعذرني فإن لي ثأر لادية له مع جميع من صلبوك

ولكن الأوغاد لم يعرفوا يهوذا منذ ألفين عام

ولا أظنهم كانوا يعرفون أن زادك يا وطني أتاك به زايد ولن يزايدوا بعد زايد

ونحن المرتزقة وإن كثرنا حتى اصبحنا ألوفاً مؤلفة لن نزيد على زايد

اشتقنا لمؤسسك يا وطني

للحديث بقيةٌ يا وطني أما الأفعال فلا نهاية لها

The (un)followers

2010-04-06T04:44:00.000-07:00

Recently I've noticed people saying to others: How come you don't follow me? The reaction is usually either an awkward silence followed by an obnoxiously lame explanation on how they keep forgetting to do so or a complete shock at the entitled audacity of the question. But that's fine, how many times will the same question be asked to the same person by the same person, right? Right?

Anyway, what's really getting out of hand is the public calling out of someone for unfollowing them. Some have gone as far as placing the act of unfollowing someone at the core of what is to be considered bad e-manners. This is potentially problematic because it could increase the level of required courtesy in order to survive in the world without being called rude. And we know no one wants to be called that. And we know that because it hurts to be called that.

I have a proposal to avoid this latest version of social media drama from spilling over to social real drama:

Plan A: Reason

Emotionally injured Victims of tasteless acts of unfollowing can alternatively attempt to differentiate between the quality of their tweets and themselves. In other words when Hosneyah unfollows Zaleekha it means Zaleekha's tweets do not appeal to Hosneyah's curiosity & imagination; It means they effectively bore Hosneyah. However, it does not mean that Sara dislikes, loathes, detests or hates Zaleekha

If you want people to continue following you then you've got to raise your game. Otherwise stand up comedians would spend more time cursing at their walkouts than actually... do stand up! And trust me, stand up fans do more than just unfollow when they're dissatisfied with their comedians' performance.

Plan B: Twitter goes Facebooks

If, both, self respect (on Zaleekha's part) and reason (on Hosneyah's part) fail. Then twitter can always follow facebook's suite and introduce the hide his/her twitter feed option.

For the rest of you, I leave you with this: It is better to have followed and then unfollowed than to have not followed at all.

My views on the Dubai kissing couple's loss of verdict appeal

2010-04-04T06:22:00.000-07:00

Today, the British couple jailed in Dubai for kissing in public, have lost their appeal against their conviction and have been sentenced to a month in prison with subsequent deportation and fined for drinking alcohol.

I have followed this case with a keen eye. It is a peculiar case in my point of view because it happened in a such strange circumstances. Let's review what we know about the case:

1) Events took place in the Jumeirah Beach Residence's The Walk at 2am

2) The restaurant where all the events happened does not serve alcohol

3) The couple had an alcohol level of 22mg/dl. Although this is below the driving limit in the UK it is still considered an offense to be publicly intoxicated

The above three points allow me to safely assume that the British couple and their friends had a fun out drinking and needed to eat at the end of the night

4) Once accused, the couple had a rational self surviving prerogative to deny having done anything more than kissing on the cheek as the consequences would be dire

5) The restaurant has a rational self surviving prerogative to deny having been passively supportive of anything more than kissing on the cheek as the consequences would be dire

6) In western culture, kissing on the cheek usually happens when greeting someone or when saying goodbye to them. It is quite awkward and/or a sign of affection to kiss someone on the cheek in between those two points of a social outing

7) The Emirati lady has no rational prerogative to exaggerate what she saw for two reasons: First, it is considered a major taboo in Emirati culture for women to enter a police station, prosecutor's office or court. This lady entered all three and continued to testify. This was both a logistical inconvenience and cultural taboo for what must have been a blatant lie for the defendants statements to be accurate. Second, kisses on the cheek occur everyday and all day in Dubai. Why would kisses on the cheek suddenly become offensive enough to warrant a false accusation?

I realise this is all incredibly circumstantial and this case may very well go down as someone's word against another but there is a certain bias that can be deduced from the points above.

Having said that, should the second appeal, now apparently in motion, be repealed as well then Dubai would once again be seen signaling a large unwelcome sign not because of its rules (those should not change) but on how it applies them. The court's decision be a suspended one. It is not too late for that, we don't need the bad reputation nor do the couple need to go to jail for this. Preserving Dubai's unwritten social contract has never been as important as it's been today.

The form of your color that is not late

2010-03-27T21:39:00.000-07:00

She spoke some truth last night

She spoke some truth last night and through that truth seeped another truth

You are good enough to save but not enough to keep her

You inspire but how dare you aspire?

Hey girl, come closer and tell them who made us kin

Hey girl, come closer and tell me what you know of faith and sin

Hey girl, I give you a path and you give me hope in the multiplicity of your kind

And it's fine

The truth is fair and is not too late

I am early to class

And you must graduate and I have other classes

Take care or don't care

The care you do not take will kidnap you back when you find your pair

The price of pride is worth the package of truth

I know you completely now and do not care to know if you know you too

Draw my shapes and forms

Give me colors and edges

I will give you the rest

Fork and spoon

2010-03-27T14:35:00.000-07:00

A fork that would not spoon

A cork that would not revert

A preacher with waxed ears

Center stage is wax poetic

Back stage is the wax maker

Center stage is dyed in blue

Back stage is the dye bearer

Everyone enjoys the show

No one paid a fee

They are squatters

This show is for you

This show is by us

This show is about us

This show will change us

This show's already changed me

Watch the show

Watch it now

Draw the curtain

Act 1 tries too hard

Act 2 is adolescent

An intermission of hope

Act 3 is too harsh

Act 4 is post pain

Closing act is open ending-ly sublime

Walk out. Breath the humid truth

Who wants to have dinner?

FOCUS:Dubai's Moral Crackdown Is Kiss Of Death For Tourism

2010-03-18T15:46:00.001-07:00

http://www.zawya.com/Story.cfm/sidZW20100317000193/%3D%20FOCUS:Dubai%27s%20Moral%20Crackdown%20Is%20Kiss%20Of%20Death%20For%20Tourism/

Wednesday, Mar 17, 2010

By Stefania Bianchi
Of ZAWYA DOW JONES

DUBAI (Zawya Dow Jones)--Two British holidaymakers in Dubai are the latest victims of the emirate's moral crackdown, facing a month in jail for a kiss. The sentence is another sign of Dubai's drive to enforce Muslim values, at the risk of turning away the western tourists who fill its hotels.

"Dubai is in danger of gaining a reputation as a place where you can be arrested for minor incidents," said Sean Tipton, a spokesperson for the Association of British Travel Agents, which represents more than 5000 travel operators in the U.K. "If this type of attitude continues, Dubai's tourism industry will be harmed."

Dubai has grown to become the Persian Gulf's most popular destination due to its liberal tolerance of alcohol and partying in a region that's better known for its austere religious values. Billions of tourism dollars may be under threat as Dubai tightens up.

Tourism is crucial to Dubai and accounts for a fifth of the emirate's economy. Close to 41 million passengers traveled through Dubai International Airport last year, making it one of world's fastest growing. Emirates Airline, Dubai's flagship carrier, indirectly contributes just over $10 billion to the sheikdom's economy each year.

A spokesperson for Dubai's Department of Tourism & Commerce Marketing couldn't be reached for comment.

Brits Ayman Najafi and Charlotte Adams were arrested last November after an Emirati woman sitting with her children reported them to the police, alleging they were kissing passionately and touching each other. This week, the pair who are currently on bail, appealed against a one-month jail sentence and deportation.

Their case is the third high-profile example in recent years of U.K. nationals getting into hot water with the emirate's laws on public decency. In 2008, a British couple were arrested after allegedly having sex on a beach. The two received suspended sentences after facing charges of sex outside marriage, drunkenness and offending public decency.

On the whole, Dubai's locals are unapologetic.

"People need to learn more about Dubai and its culture before coming here," said Mishaal Al Gergawi, a local commentator in Dubai. "People talk about the world being a global village, but each house has its rules."

WORRIED FAMILIES

At one of Dubai's five-star luxury hotels, not far from where Najafi and Adams were caught kissing, there is already a sense of caution amongst tourists.

"We were worried when we heard about the kissing case and we did think twice about coming to Dubai," said Alan Thompson, a 52-year old construction manager from Derbyshire who is on holiday with his wife, Sue, and daughters Katie and Rebecca. "It makes you rethink quite intuitive actions. We're quite a tactile family so I've even worried about putting my arm around my daughter."

Sue, who is taking hormone replacement therapy, says she was worried that she wouldn't be allowed into the emirate with her medication.

"I went to see my doctor before I came to Dubai to get a letter of consent for the drugs I'm taking," she said.

Dubai's tax-free lifestyle, year-round sunshine and high standards of living have also lured Western expatriates in recent years. Foreign workers now account for about 85% of Dubai's residents, leaving a minority of locals or Emiratis, some of whom are unhappy with the behavior of some of the Westerners.

More than 100,000 British expatriates live in the United Arab Emirates, mostly in Dubai, according to the British Embassy. Around 850,000 Brits visited the emirate in 2008, almost double than in 2006, according to Dubai's Department of Tourism & Commerce Marketing. Proportionally, Britons are more likely to be arrested in the U.A.E. than any other country in the world, according to travel advice on the U.K.'s Foreign & Commonwealth Office Web site.

BASTION OF IMMORALITY

Dubai finds itself in a difficult position promoting itself as one of the world's top tourist destinations, whilst upholding strict Islamic laws. Although tourists can enjoy most activities, there are laws regarding alcohol, drugs, sex outside marriage and dress.

"Dubai is looked on as a bastion of immorality within the wider Gulf region," said Jim Krane, author of 'City of Gold: Dubai and the Dream of Capitalism' and an expert of the U.A.E. "Abu Dhabi is another influence on Dubai. With Abu Dhabi as the rising star, there is more pressure on Dubai to live up to the morals of a Gulf Islamic state."

Oil-rich Abu Dhabi, traditionally more conservative than Dubai, was forced to bailout its poorer cousin after a $100 billion mountain of debt accumulated by building many of the lavish tourism projects got out of control.

"Dubai has to play carefully. Social freedoms are one Dubai's key competitive advantages and if it loses them, it will be to Abu Dhabi's advantage," said Krane. Both emirates are competing to attract international visitors.

Local media Wednesday reported that an Indian couple who were cabin crew for Emirates had been jailed for three months for sending each other sexually explicit text messages. An Emirates Airline spokesperson was unable to comment on the case.

"If this sort of thing becomes routine news, Dubai may face a problem," said Chris Doyle, director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding. "However, if Dubai doesn't set out a marker for what foreigners can and can't do the Dubai authorities will have a problem domestically. It has to find a happy medium."

Hello, my name is Mishaal and I'm an idea-realistic.

2010-03-13T14:25:00.000-08:00

I dream dreams that turn to tales under the rainfall of mornings

I tell tales that turn to dreams of days under the glue of noons

I write my fictitious plans

I cast the heroes upon the villains

I am the hero

You are the hero

My villain is upon me and your villain is within you

I slay my villain and you entertain yours

Damn you

Damn you again and again and again

You almost killed me

And now I must kill you or leave you

I will leave you and you will not follow me

No love lost, only honor and home

Times (of Dubai?)

2010-03-11T13:43:00.000-08:00

It was the best of times,
it was the worst of times,
it was the age of wisdom,
it was the age of foolishness,
it was the epoch of belief,
it was the epoch of incredulity,
it was the season of Light,
it was the season of Darkness,
it was the spring of hope,
it was the winter of despair,
we had everything before us,
we had nothing before us,
we were all going direct to heaven,
we were all going direct the other way
-
in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

On Robert Greene's talk: "From Napoleon to Google: Strategies for Success in a Brave New World" at the Emirates Litreature Festival

2010-03-10T13:56:00.000-08:00

I read Robert Greene's The 48 laws of power a 5 years ago and though his laws are mostly intuitive, I found it a very well curated crash course in history. Greene's talk today was an extension of the same. And while his finger is on the pulse, he is not alone. However, he remains an effective figure and it is good to know he is a fellow collaborator.

Greene takes talks about historic fatality, which occurs when a great idea take over the world so completely that it becomes it's only way e.g. agriculture as method of food production. He follows that with the detailing the process by which concentrated power is diluted from the tribal village to the bureaucratic and complex modern city and sites Capitalism, political revolutions & media as specific contributors to the exponential dilution of power in the last century. Directly after that, Greene makes it clear that this will dilute further until, in 100-200* years, individuals will want to have almost total control over their life.

He then discusses the current crisis and tech bubble stating that one of two things gives rise to bubbles. First, the over-abundance of capital which effectively means you have too much money following too few ideas. This leads to much of abundance being invested in sub-par ideas which eventually fail. The second, and arguably the more complicated spot, is the correlation of the occurrence of bubbles and the increased state of general insecurity people. of the current world. People doubt the present and so start looking for a new future.

In today's age, we have four kinds of companies:

Over-consumption driven by over-marketed businesses: these are on their way out.
Dinosaurs e.g. Microsoft: They'll be out in 10-20 years.
Crisis survivors e.g. Google
New businesses that are product of creative destruction**

Greene then says that humans are finally entering the information age and that those who do not comprehend that will probably makes the wrong decisions and subsequently are unable to join this era. Two prevalent approaches to change that are wrong are either freaking out and holding on to the past or proceed with limited interest and a lot of indifference.

He compares Google to Napoleon who started off as an innovator who called he's top down generals Marie Antoinette for their lack of touch with the times. Greene reminds us that after 10 glorious years, it is Napoleon himself who becomes bureaucratic and attempts to consolidate power which leads to 10 horrible years as he becomes the very thing he revolted against.

In short, did Greene say anything I didn't know? But I'm extremely excited at how fast the subject of #wcm moved to mainstream talks and panels. Greene's stories were entertaining and will undoubtedly serve as good material for many discussions I expect to have with friends and collaborators who attended the talk.

*more like 30-60 years in my view
** a process by which new ideas emerge by the sheer destruction of whatever stood before.

My Emirates Litreature Festival itinerary

2010-03-08T21:08:00.000-08:00

Wednesday 10th:

4pm The Book Club Phenomenon

7pm Robert Greene From Napoleon to Google: Strategies for Success in a Brave New World

830pm Youssef Ziedan: In Conversation

Thursday 11th:

530pm Margaret Macmillan: In Conversation The Uses and Abuses of History

7pm Shobhaa Dé: In Conversation Superstar India: From Incredible to Unstoppable

8pm John Simpson How the 20th Century was Reported

Friday 12th:

1230pm Robert Lacey Inside the Kingdom

2pm Women Writing from the Arab World

5pm Imran Ahmad Islam and the West: Getting Published in a Post-9/11 World

6pm Marjane Satrapi: In Conversation

8.15pm Social Media: How readers and writers are using the new media

Saturday 13th:

1130am Abdo Khal, Alawiyya Sobh & Bahaa Taher The Arab Novel Today

4pm Beirut 39:New Writing from the Arab World Samer Abou Hawwash, Wajdi al-Ahdal, Youssef Rakha, Samuel Shimon, Alawiyya Sobh

530pm Panel Discussion: Robert Lacey, Turki Al-Dakhil, Richard Spencer Saudi Arabia's new 'Glasnost'

words and tables

2010-03-08T13:12:00.000-08:00

I preoccupied my life with a herd of tasks from the stimulating to the mundane and all the sublime that still lays confused in between. I met great people and said to myself that this city, no this nation, no this council of six men was not only my home but my purpose. To begin something, something that would rekindle art and science again after centuries of irreconcilability. How they could be match and box and start a fire that would enlighten us all. That this would be a place where girls like you and boys like me would flock. And we'd no longer be unique but remembered as ones who were once a few. I think it is a worthy cause. I think it is an attainable cause. But I also think that I am a worthy cause. And that is my struggle but I have not found my space of solitude yet. You give me faith that between the seven colors of the rainbow there are other, sharper, more fierce, self reflecting colors that I'd find in you and would liberate me (and you?) of the impossible trivial pursuit of the pot of gold. No I do not want to retire at 40. I want to die on my desk typing words that are read in my service or collapse in a wood shop making a table that is dined on after my funeral. I want to learn and produce. I want to leave this world with colors that even leprechauns didn't fathom.

About those who won't collaborate

2010-03-07T11:40:00.000-08:00

These are early ideas, which I plan to develop them further in the coming few weeks, in response to the question: will everyone make it to the knowledge economy?

---------------

Some eat well, practice yoga and swim, see their dentists and GPs every six months. Some are healthy.

Some read posts and articles. Some have conversations with new and curious people. Some travel a lot. Some have an insatiable need to try all new things and integrate what functionally appeals and do without what does not. Some are curious. Some are aware. Some grow everyday.

Others eat much, move less, lack the counsel of doctors. Others are not healthy.

Others watch tv and you tube, play pool and spades and blackjack online. Others are not curious.

A knowledge economy and some generations later, those two groups are no longer one. The one's who read and ran are firmly embedded in the seamless network of networks, they are executive and free. The one's who did not have regressed to a level where they are no longer competitive (both in skill and price) with automation. And so eventually revert to separate life and world. They slowly develop a quasi-barter system among each other and slowly lose technology until they become feudal again.

مقياس من قاسى قصاص قساوسة القياس

2010-03-06T13:56:00.000-08:00

من هم العرب و أين ذاهبوا.. هل دفناهم مع ناصر أم إنتحروا أمام رصاص الفيصل؟

و هل عاد أهل النيل فراعنة و أهل الأرز فينيقيين

و نحن أهل الرمال... الغبراء منها والخضراء...

فقدنا الكثير من بساطتنا وأكثر حذرنا ثم فقدناكم...

فقدناكم حتى تسألنا هل بات فؤادنا أطرشاً لأم كلثوم أم غرقنا في بحيرتنا هذه المالحة السوداء؟

نحن من ولدنا بعد إن اغتيلت العروبة

نحن من ترعرعنا في زمن الإخوان والوهابيين والخمينيين الذين رفضوا إسلامنا وأبدلوه بوبائهم الذي لازلنا منه نستغيث

أما الأن فبعد أن جاء الكثيرون وقتلوا الملايين

من أنتم يا أهل الشام؟ تباً لهذا الزمن الذي لا نعرف عنكم إلا متبّلكم

ومن أنتم يا أهل الرافدين؟ نسيتمونا و نسيناكموحين أقبلتم إلينا أسميناكم وافدين

و أنتم يا أهل الصعيد و إسكندرية ذاك المقدوني، ويحكم بتنا نشاهد رائيكم بعد أن أخرس قليلكم أكثركم

من الخطاب إلى المختار ضاع عمرنا ونحن نبحث عن عمر

هذا القرن الجديد يعد بالكثير ونحن له ضامنون

سنبقى خليجيون وستبقون مصريون وعراقيون كذلك أنتم يا أهل بيروت وعمان و عموم بلاد الشام

لكننا سنعود عرباً مسلمين نذكر القدس وكل فلسطين لا نرضى برام الله او غزة بديلةٌ عنها

غيضٌ من فيض

2010-03-05T16:28:00.000-08:00

سيداتي و ملهماتي ،

قلتم الكثير وأعرف عنكم القليل... فأسمحوا لي أن أرد عليكم وأن لم تكن خواطركم تخاطبني ومقابلاً أعدكم أن لا أطيل.

أقول لكم انكم مادمتم قد رقصتوا في جنازة مسخ ذاك الماضي الحديث فإنكم حاضر المستقبل ومستقبل هذا الحاضر الذي مسخ هو الأخر مسعوراً.

فاعلمي يا عليا أنك شريفة قرى الوصل العظيمة ..

وأن هذا المأوى الذي ترسمين فيه كلمات البدون سيدوم وأن وطنك الأخر سيدوم ..

سيعود ذاك فتى. سيعود لي فتى لبنان. وتبقين أنت أميرة الإمارات

واعلمي يا مسلمة الأقباط أنك محبوبة الله ..

تلك هي الريم ..

متى انطلقت غدوت كهب الريح عاصفةً بذاك المتوسط العادي لأنها لاتتكلم لغة العاديين ..

تعرفهم وتعاشرهم ولكنها ترفض مخاطبتهم بتلك اللكنة ..

هم يتحدثون معها وهي تردهم أو ترد عليهم و فالغالب تردهم و مخيلتها تبصق عليهم ..

تلك هي سيدة النياشين مطبوعة

وختاماً استودع تلك الزاجلة المستديرة ..

وأقول لها أنك لست مرسال الأنباء والأخبار. أن حاملة الأفكار ..

أنت التي ترفض تأجيل الأحلام وتقنين الأمال ..

استمري واذكري يا إبنة العقلاء أنك عاقلة هذا الدهر

هذا المستقبل سنجعله مشرقاً مبهراً رغم حقد الحاقدون وضعف هؤلاء المتوسطون العاديون ..

هذا المستقبل سنجعله مشرقاً وأن اضطررنا لأن نقطره هو وشمسه وسماءه ورجاله ونساءة لكننا لن نأخذ أغنامه!!

لمن بقي في دوامة الدراويش

2010-03-05T01:11:00.000-08:00

أين ذهب الجميع؟

تركتك معهم جميعاً.

كنت ترقصين مع ماريا ولم تكن إحداكن قبطية.

تركتك معها في دوامة الدراويش وقد وجدت فيها ضريحاً لم تجديه في أشرام المشركين و معابد الموحدين.

يا معبودة السماع هل تبجليني؟

لقد قرأت كتبك كلها وسطرت خواطرك جسدي ومددتها بعروقي.

فأخبريني يا خليلة ماريا ... متى يعود عيسى؟

ZJ is ZZ Communications' Chief Ideations and Operations Officer

2010-03-03T13:58:00.000-08:00

This is the most mediocre email I've ever received. Beyond the below I've made a summary:

Full of spelling mistakes
Written in 5 different formats (regular, bold, Underline, bold underline and blue)
I have never heard the company's name
I still can't find the company's website
There was no land line, only mobile
There was no corporate email, only an @eim account
There is a lot of cut and paste
There is major repetition, of whole paragraphs not just statements
The areas of expertise entail that they have about 700 people on payroll, this is probably three times the size of the fattest consultancy house in the UAE. However, he describes ZZ as "a small consultancy powering big, global ideas"
Job title rocks. But at that point why not go for Chief Jedi Officer?
FINALLY: The whole premise of my article, which supposedly impressed him, is Brand Dubai's failed communication strategy, yet he goes ahead and asks me to introduce him to ranking Dubai government officials so he can pitch them his masterplan save the day make Dubai strategy - IF I HAD THIS ACCESS, WHY WOULD I CRTIICISE THE ORGANISATION AND MAKE SUGGESTIONS ON HOW THEY CAN IMPROVE IN THE MEDIA???!!!

Mr. Mishaal Al Gergawi

Dear Mishaal,

I write this to congratulate on your superb article "The world is run by those who show up" in Gulf News of 21 February 2010.

In April 09 after Johann Hari fired the first salvo of nasty attacks on Dubai (no doubt inspired by the staccato bursts in other global publications), spinning a puerile yarn, I had written to some of the leading opinion leaders and decision makers on the need to have a unified command and control centre for communications (without sounding scarily Orwellian) to create and disseminate a consistent message about "Brand Dubai." I had strongly recommended that Dubai would have to counter the attacks with an optimal blend of strategic and tactical communications initiatives. I had fervently argued that absence of an effective response, and prolonged silence, would be construed as acquiescence.

In this message mix of strategic and tactical initiatives, integral to the success of the "Dubai" image is a campaign that would efface the earlier negative courage and strongly convey Dubai's positives to a large global audience to drive investments, trade, tourism, business flow into this fantastic city. We, at ZZ, have ideated such a unique, innovative and highly impactful global campaign.

By virtue of the extremely innovative and highly impactful global marketing and business development initiatives that ZZ and I have ideated and presented for some of the best brands in the world like The New York Times and Vodafone, I am extremely confident of bringing innovation, excitement and passion to this project. The "BLAH BLAH" (TM by ZZ exemplar based on "YADA YADA" mooted by ZZ would transform Dubai into a truly global household brand with commensurate benefits in re-vitalising business flow.

We, at ZZ, are extremely confident that this would act as a stimulus that would kick start a renewed resurgence of flow of business, investments, trade and tourism into this great city. To implement this campaign, I am trying to find the right, empowered Dubai Government forum that can review and approve this project that has humungous benefits for Dubai in the short, medium and long term.

Towards this end, I would be grateful if you would proffer your guidance, which I consider would be invaluable.

I had outlined this very briefly when I had the pleasure of meeting with you, albeit very briefly, after your presentation on "Mapping Dubai" at The Shelter.

It was immediately after the excellent presentation. In the blur of post presentation adulation and huddles, I am sure my face would have been just one of the many that slipped into oblivion even before being registered.

May I re-introduce myself as ZJ, Chief Ideations and Operations Officer of ZZ, an integrated business enhancement and marketing consultancy based in Dubai, U A E. It is a small consultancy powering big, global ideas, inspired by MM and the possibilities offered by a truly, inextricably interconnected, global world.

ZZ is knowledge based, information propelled, innovation driven, globally clued on and utilises technologies to create and implement strategy. ZZ is an ardent believer of : Business enhancement through : Knowledge . Information . Technology . Communication . Innovation . Global Ambition.

We have backed up our ambitions with a few, extremely innovative and highly impactful initiatives worldwide.

They cover the spectrum of financial services, media, communications, aviation, marketing, telecoms, infrastructure, tourism, global branding / marketing.

As mentioned earlier, one of the projects that we are passionate about is the unique and innovative global project to transform Dubai / U A E into a truly global household brand and enhance trade, tourism, investments and help Dubai regain its top ranking as a global business hub.

As a committed and loyal Dubai resident of the last 14 years, who is passionate about the success of this city, I am extremely desirous of making this exciting project happen. It would have significant ripple and trickle down benefits to help Dubai kick-start its ascendancy to its deserved slot at the top.

A NOTE ON ZZ

In the interim, I attach a snapshot on the integrated business enhancement and marketing consultancy, ZZ. It is a small consultancy powering big, global ideas, inspired by MM and the possibilities offered by a truly, inextricably interconnected, global world.

We have also identified, ideated and initiated several other projects globally, regionally and locally.

For example, we at ZZ have ideated how to transform one of the largest telecom operators in the world to be one of the most admired brands in the world. This business enhancement / marketing initiative could be a significant differentiator as emerging economies like India transform from a 500 million unit market to a 1 billion telecoms market in just 4 years. This is the differentiator between a zilch to zillion market. This extremely interesting, innovative, global and highly impactful initiative has been presented to the Global Brand Headquarters of one of the largest telecom operators, in their European Headquarters.

ZZ and I have presented to the C E O of The New York Times , a business re-structuring / global business development strategy to turn them profitable. This would transform them from a loss making unit to a globally admired profit making unit.

On a totally different level, we have ideated and formulated ways of transforming India into one of the greatest granaries of the world. It is unique and massively impactful in that it creates massive opportunities in environmental protection, creation of jobs, alleviation of poverty etc.

We, at ZZ, have also found ways on how emerging world governments can save billions of dollars in healthcare expenditure

We at ZZ are extremely confident that we have ready to market, zero gestation period projects that will help clients across many segments boost profits significantly.

More on some of the projects ZZ has pro-actively identified, ideated and initiated :

1) The New York Times project : ZZ pro-actively identified an opportunity, initiated dialogue with the Chairman and C E O of The New York Times and presented a business restructuring / global marketing campaign to the C E O of The New York Times at their headquarters in New York. Some of the key recommendations in the strategy have already been implemented by The New York Times. But the real game changers, as recommended by ZZ is yet to be implemented. At ZZ we are extremely confident that this is the only way forward for global publications to survive. The "BLAH BLAH" (TM by ZZ exemplar based on "YADA YADA" mooted by ZZ would transform a multimillion dollar loss making venture into a global leader with commensurate profitability.

2) Global Marketing / C S R project for one of the largest telecom operators in the world : ZZ ideated an extremely innovative, technology based, global marketing / C S R campaigns for one of the largest telecom operators in the world. ZZ the concept and strategy at their European Headquarters in Ireland. This, again, is a multimillion dollar project which will transform this organisation into one of the most admired in the world with commensurate revenue returns. This project assumes added importance as emerging markets are slated to double their mobile telephony capabilities over the next few years (India set to double its 500 million in just 4 years !!!)

3) Multimillion dollar integrated global marketing campaign to transform local / regional brands / destinations into truly global household brands : ZZ has ideated and introduced a very innovative and exciting integrated global marketing campaign which will transform local and regional brands into truly global household brands to blue chips and governments of the region. This could also double as a massive global destination / city / country branding project which could drive trade, tourism traffic and investments, even in these tough times.

4) Global business development and strategic marketing with a leading payments brand : Have initiated, globally, with one of the biggest payment brands, an exciting and ambitious global marketing campaign to smother their competition.

5). Introduction of a new aviation revenue concept : In addition, ZZ also working on introducing a new aviation industry revenue addition concept to the major airlines of the region

6) Business Process Re-engineering for optimisation of marketing investments : With most corporates under massive cost pressures, impacted adversely by the downturn, ZZ has ideated and initiated an innovative B P R of marketing processes, which would save millions of dollars for corporates through enhanced cost - efficiencies

7) Unique Television Programming Content : We have ideated unique and interesting "infotainment" concepts for television across many markets.

This is only a sampling of what we have done. As mentioned we have ideated several other, highly remunerative projects in financial services, media, communications, aviation, marketing, telecoms, infrastructure, tourism, global branding / marketing.

ZZ's expertise covers the complete spectrum of :

¨ advertising ¨ business ideation ¨ business development ¨ branding (re-branding) ¨ corporate social responsibility ¨ country social responsibility ¨ content software ¨ content strategy ¨ databases ¨ destination branding ¨ digital marketing ¨ direct marketing ¨ editorial ¨ events ¨ global marketing ¨ image and perception audit ¨ marketing ¨ marketing audit ¨ media consultancy (format, content, platforms, delivery, distribution, style book, marketing) ¨ multimedia ¨ networks ¨ new media ¨ project ideation ¨ public relations ¨ sales ¨ sales audit

¨ syndications ¨ training (sales, marketing)

Look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely

ZJ
Chief Ideations and Operations Officer
ZZ
P. O. Box ABCDEFG
Dubai, U A E
Tel: +971 50 000 0000
E-mail: ZJ@emirates.net.ae

The half complete draft of "Dubai: Between Vision and Execution"

2010-03-02T12:49:00.000-08:00

I wrote this in December 2005 but never got around to finishing it.

There comes a time when one must stop and evaluate the incline ahead. What Dubai has achieved is, beyond any doubt, a case study miracle that will be studied in business schools and think tanks along with prior – Singapore and Malaysia – and subsequent – Qatar – success stories of redeploying capital into efficient avenues all yielding to a diverse and prosperous economy.

The value proposition, as we have come accustomed to refer to it is the one stop service hub that will flourish and the region; the concept is fault proof. There is large demand for a command center to steer development in Middle East, and Dubai fits perfectly here because it is the paradigm that can be taught and understood by all neighbors in the region. The same paradigm has been identified as a launch pad for reform policies in the region without the need to clash with anti-western reform sentiment. It is an in house restructuring task force and to a certain extent there is no tangible consultancy fee in the near horizon.

Also, Dubai's various projects and initiatives serve a complimentary benefit. From real estate to hospitality, from banking to healthcare, and from education to recreation, these are all services that any tourist and resident would find indispensable. Not to mention their role as secondary service providers to neighboring state residents. Dubai is increasingly becoming a winter home and a get away, this attributed to its low tax and safety.

But beyond all this comes another question. How well is the execution? I believe we have a problem that may or may not self correct. Either way, this should not be the attitude. Dubai is enjoying an economic expansion which in addition to the value proposition is due to the post 9/11 capital flight into the region, as well as oil prices at historic highs. This has lead to a period of relative self assurance as to the performance of the economy as a whole. This self assurance in turn may have inclined developmental initiatives to increase in volume and audacity but not necessarily in quality, this in turn has prolonged the suspension of much needed measures of priority.

لأنني أعشق دبي

2010-03-02T02:16:00.000-08:00

لدى دبي الكثير من الإنجازات التي تبعث بالفخر وأكثر فيما باتت تمثله للغير. فبغض النظر عن تأثير الأزمة المالية العالمية عليها فقد قامت دبي بكسر نظرية عدم قدرة المدن العربية و الإسلامية على تحقيق نموٍ إقتصادي من دون الإعتماد على الموارد النفطية. الأمر الذي يعني أن نفوذ دبي الفلسفي قد بات أضعاف نفوذها الجغرافي والاقتصادي الأمر الذي جعل سكان بعض دول المنطقة إلى التساؤل عما يمنعهم من تطوير بيئه تجارية متسامحة ثقافياً كما فعلت دبي.

وإن هذا التفكير يفرض علينا نحن أبناء دبي أن نساهم في وضع أفكار وخطط ترسم ملامح دبي في هذا العقد الجديد. إن القيام بهذا الدور نابع ومن إيماننا بمستقبلٍ مشرق لدبي. لكن من أجل الوصول لهذا المستقبل هناك الكثير من العمل.

كالشتاء الروسي القارس الذي صد نابليون، إن الأزمة المالية قاسية لامبالية لا تفرق بين القطاع العام و الخاص ، أو بين المؤسسة و الفرد ولا بين المواطن والوافد. لذا فلابد من أن نواجه الإزمة كفريقٍ واحد: حكومةً وتجاراً وشعباً.

ماذا الأن؟ وأنا أعشق دبي و أجد أسباب جديدة لأعشقها كل يوم. فهل سأقف ساكناً شاهداً على معاناتها بينما انتظر من حكومتنا بأن تقوم بكل شيء؟ لكنها دبي... تلك المدينة التي رسمت لي طموحاتي و اعطتني كل ذكرياتي. لا استطيع أن أقف مكتوف الأيدي.

انني أستمد عزيمتي من كلمتان لصاحب السمو الشيخ محمد بن راشد آل مكتوم رعاه الله؛

الأولى تصفنا نحن أهل دبي حين يقول: "نحن لا ننتظر الأحداث، بل نصنعها". أما الثانية فتشد عزيمتنا جميعاً حين يقول: "عندما لا تجد طريقاً أمامك فلتشق طريقك بنفسك". فعلاً هذه هي الأيام التي لابد أن لا ننتظر الأحداث بل نصنعها ونشق الطريق لكي نصنعها بأنفسنا!

نعرف جميعا أننا في حاجة إلى بذل المزيد من الجهد من أجل تطوير التعليم الابتدائي والإعدادي والثانوي؛ جاء العديد من الخبراء و الاستشاريين وذهبوا ولم يحدث تغيير يذكر حتى الأن. لانزال جميعاً نأمل في تحسن ملموس في حالة الرعاية الطبية ولكن الكثير لايزال يفضل السفر الى الخارج وتكبد مصاريف علاج باهظة. يعود ذلك إلى تجاربهم او تجارب غيرهم السابقة. وضع الإبداع الفني وريادة الشباب للأعمال لا يزالان يعانين من وطأة قوانين وتشريعات صممت من أجل شركاتٍ عائليةٍ وعالمية ضخمة. نحن مع الأسف لا نزال نتعامل مع الفنانين ورواد الأعمال الشباب كأنهم جزء من برنامج دعمٍ إجتماعي. وإن تغيرت هذه النظرة فإنني على ثقة أنه بإمكان رجال الأعمال والفنانين ، عن طريق إنتاج الأفكار و المشاريع باجتذاب رؤوس الأموال الذكية والملتزمة ببرنامج نموٍ مستدام يساهم بشكلٍ رئيسي في خروج دبي من الأزمة بشكلٍ متألق وناضج.

من ناحية تواصل دبي الإعلامي، لا نزال نعاني من التغطية السلبية في الصحافة الأجنبية. بغض النظر عن أجندة اعلام الغرب فإن صمتنا يزيد من وطأة هذه الحملة الغاشمة على مدينتنا الحبيبة.

قد حان الوقت لدبي بأن تخرج من بعض القطاعات الغير استراتيجية مثل العقارات والضيافة والترفيه. إن ذلك سيسمح بإستخدامٍ أفضل لأصولها ويفتح باب المنافسة للاعبين جدد للقيام بتطويرٍ باتت تلك القطاعات في أمس الحاجة إليها.

نحن في أمس الحاجة لمراجعة شاملة لتشريعات الأعمال التجارية. هذه المراجعة يجب أن تغطي قضايا ملحة مثل تشريعات مبتكرة لهياكل الشركات الحديثة. توضيح المعالجة المحاسبية للأدوات المالية المعقدة الأمر الذي سيجذب شركات جديدة للتأسس في دبي. ومن الضروري أيضا إعادة النظر في قانون الافلاس؛ كثرةٌ هي القصص التي بتنا نسمعها في الاونة الأخيرة التي تدل على أن استمرار هذا القانون بشكله الحالي سيؤدي إلى تدفق رؤوس الأموال والموارد البشرية إلى الخارج.

بعد سنوات النمو العقاري السابقة فقد حان الوقت لتنظيم التطوير العمراني في دبي. لقد سمعت كل الحجج وأنا ما زلت مقتنعا بأن حل مسألة العمال سهلٌ جداً.

هناك الكثير من الاجانب الذين عاشوا لعقودٍ عديدة في دبي. فضل هؤلاء الحفاظ على هويتهم ولكنهم أبدو التزاماً لمدينتنا. ينبغي لنا أن نبدأ بالتحدث عن بعض الحلول. بالأمس قدم لي أحد الإخوة إقتراحاً طيباً في هذا الصدد وهو أن يتم مراجعة الحد الأقصى للإقامة من ٦٠ إلى ٩٩ مع إستمرار التجديد كل عامان أو ثلاثة. أعلم أن الموضوع حساس ولكن بناء مجتمع متماسك يتطلب خطوات غير مسبوقة. فأنا أفضل أن نعرف جيراننا الوافدون، نشاركهم أفراحنا وأحزاننا على أن نصبح كتلك القرى التي تذكر في روايات جحا التي تملؤها خانات المسافرين. من المهم أن أوضح بشكلٍ قاطع أن هذه ليست دعوة للحصول على جنسية الإمارات الحبيبة، فتلك لن نساوم بها من أجل تجارةٍ أو إقتصاد و هي لا تقاس إلا بمدى الاندماج في الهوية و الثقافة الإماراتية.

نحن، حكومة وتجار و مجتمع مسؤلون عن دبي و كما قال الشيخ محمد: "في داخل كل إنسان محيط عظيم من الإنجازات ينتظر أن يندفع. فلنجعل هذا المحيط يتدفق خدمةً لمدينة الوصل".

أنا هنا لأنني أعشق دبي وحاكمها وأهلها و كل من عشقها.

Advice is best served raw

2010-03-01T01:31:00.000-08:00

When I feel someone needs advice on life I read this out loud to them.

Fairness, idealism and other atrocities

Commencement advice you're unlikely to hear elsewhere.

By P.J. O'Rourke
May 4, 2008

Well, here you are at your college graduation. And I know what you're thinking: "Gimme the sheepskin and get me outta here!" But not so fast. First you have to listen to a commencement speech.

Don't moan. I'm not going to "pass the wisdom of one generation down to the next." I'm a member of the 1960s generation. We didn't have any wisdom.

We were the moron generation. We were the generation that believed we could stop the Vietnam War by growing our hair long and dressing like circus clowns. We believed drugs would change everything -- which they did, for John Belushi. We believed in free love. Yes, the love was free, but we paid a high price for the sex.

My generation spoiled everything for you. It has always been the special prerogative of young people to look and act weird and shock grown-ups. But my generation exhausted the Earth's resources of the weird. Weird clothes -- we wore them. Weird beards -- we grew them. Weird words and phrases -- we said them. So, when it came your turn to be original and look and act weird, all you had left was to tattoo your faces and pierce your tongues. Ouch. That must have hurt. I apologize.

So now, it's my job to give you advice. But I'm thinking: You're finishing 16 years of education, and you've heard all the conventional good advice you can stand. So, let me offer some relief:

1. Go out and make a bunch of money!

Here we are living in the world's most prosperous country, surrounded by all the comforts, conveniences and security that money can provide. Yet no American political, intellectual or cultural leader ever says to young people, "Go out and make a bunch of money." Instead, they tell you that money can't buy happiness. Maybe, but money can rent it.

There's nothing the matter with honest moneymaking. Wealth is not a pizza, where if I have too many slices you have to eat the Domino's box. In a free society, with the rule of law and property rights, no one loses when someone else gets rich.

2. Don't be an idealist!

Don't chain yourself to a redwood tree. Instead, be a corporate lawyer and make $500,000 a year. No matter how much you cheat the IRS, you'll still end up paying $100,000 in property, sales and excise taxes. That's $100,000 to schools, sewers, roads, firefighters and police. You'll be doing good for society. Does chaining yourself to a redwood tree do society $100,000 worth of good?

Idealists are also bullies. The idealist says, "I care more about the redwood trees than you do. I care so much I can't eat. I can't sleep. It broke up my marriage. And because I care more than you do, I'm a better person. And because I'm the better person, I have the right to boss you around."

Get a pair of bolt cutters and liberate that tree.

Who does more for the redwoods and society anyway -- the guy chained to a tree or the guy who founds the "Green Travel Redwood Tree-Hug Tour Company" and makes a million by turning redwoods into a tourist destination, a valuable resource that people will pay just to go look at?

So make your contribution by getting rich. Don't be an idealist.

3. Get politically uninvolved!

All politics stink. Even democracy stinks. Imagine if our clothes were selected by the majority of shoppers, which would be teenage girls. I'd be standing here with my bellybutton exposed. Imagine deciding the dinner menu by family secret ballot. I've got three kids and three dogs in my family. We'd be eating Froot Loops and rotten meat.

But let me make a distinction between politics and politicians. Some people are under the misapprehension that all politicians stink. Impeach George W. Bush, and everything will be fine. Nab Ted Kennedy on a DUI, and the nation's problems will be solved.

But the problem isn't politicians -- it's politics. Politics won't allow for the truth. And we can't blame the politicians for that. Imagine what even a little truth would sound like on today's campaign trail:

"No, I can't fix public education. The problem isn't the teachers unions or a lack of funding for salaries, vouchers or more computer equipment The problem is your kids!"

4. Forget about fairness!

We all get confused about the contradictory messages that life and politics send.

Life sends the message, "I'd better not be poor. I'd better get rich. I'd better make more money than other people." Meanwhile, politics sends us the message, "Some people make more money than others. Some are rich while others are poor. We'd better close that 'income disparity gap.' It's not fair!"

Well, I am here to advocate for unfairness. I've got a 10-year-old at home. She's always saying, "That's not fair." When she says this, I say, "Honey, you're cute. That's not fair. Your family is pretty well off. That's not fair. You were born in America. That's not fair. Darling, you had better pray to God that things don't start getting fair for you." What we need is more income, even if it means a bigger income disparity gap.

5. Be a religious extremist!

So, avoid politics if you can. But if you absolutely cannot resist, read the Bible for political advice -- even if you're a Buddhist, atheist or whatever. Don't get me wrong, I am not one of those people who believes that God is involved in politics. On the contrary. Observe politics in this country. Observe politics around the world. Observe politics through history. Does it look like God's involved?

The Bible is very clear about one thing: Using politics to create fairness is a sin. Observe the Tenth Commandment. The first nine commandments concern theological principles and social law: Thou shalt not make graven images, steal, kill, et cetera. Fair enough. But then there's the tenth: "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor's."

Here are God's basic rules about how we should live, a brief list of sacred obligations and solemn moral precepts. And, right at the end of it we read, "Don't envy your buddy because he has an ox or a donkey." Why did that make the top 10? Why would God, with just 10 things to tell Moses, include jealousy about livestock?

Well, think about how important this commandment is to a community, to a nation, to a democracy. If you want a mule, if you want a pot roast, if you want a cleaning lady, don't whine about what the people across the street have. Get rich and get your own.

Now, one last thing:

6. Don't listen to your elders!

After all, if the old person standing up here actually knew anything worth telling, he'd be charging you for it.

A tribute to love in a fast town: a fictitious story that happens every so often

2010-02-28T15:23:00.000-08:00

I arrive to Teatro late as usual, Pat swears she won’t book me a table again but she still crushes me with her strong hug. Everyone makes a fuss about how I always arrive fashionably late. Meanwhile, I am thinking of what, in retrospect, has proven not to be a very short shortcut. I take a deep breath, feel my fresh shower scent settling and dream of bread that I would shower with salt and smother with pesto, but Pat doesn't serve bread.

There are new faces but I’m catching up with Adil whom I haven’t seen for a few weeks. He’s talking about how much he thinks I will enjoy reading Bulgakov's Master and Margarita again and tells me about the power plant contract they were just awarded. Sunny is telling me about how the art work hasn’t shipped yet and the opening is in 9 days. Kate is talking about a really boring lunch she had with a new F&B manager at a 5 star hotel. Everyone is chattering about all things, the pop and the intellectual, the opinion and the factual, the boring and the less boring; much is decadent but nothing is mediocre.

There are new faces here, one or two. Maybe I met them before, at an opening or a closing. Who cares? Who cares if I’ve met them? I’ll meet them now. They are talking. I’ll meet them later.

She stretches to grab the salt and I notice her olive arm. She looks up and I look down. She looks up and I look down and it’s for a second and I want to talk to her, does she? I don’t know but she does notice me. We are children and peek at each other in between bites till dessert. We speak about what espresso does to soufflé. She said it suppressed the taste, I said it elevated it. She chuckled warmly and I thought to myself “she had acquiesced.”

We speak for a few weeks and book tables for two a few more times and then she must travel for work and then I must work late and then she is tired and then I am lazy. We are not in the mood anymore. Our hour is gone. We are both independent. We are both cynical. We are both in short stock of time to waste and we are both moving on. Did we date? Did we break up? I know we didn’t commit.

How do you fall amidst the rush? The metro is fast but at which station do you get off? We buy day passes but never the yearly card. We tell ourselves we are buying cars soon. But it is a new century and we still stand at the station. Are we northbound or southbound? I try to walk towards the Sun.

I see her again and we are civil but the passion is gone so we can be friends. I can meet her friends and her friends’ friends and she can meet mine. The cycle continues into the future. The cycle sustains me and I sustain the cycle. We are symbiotic, but for a time. Sustainable coexistence continues to elude me; or do I elude it, or her?

It’s Friday and I am at Teatro again, she is there too but on a different table. I smile politely and before I leave I ask her about her projects and her yoga and she asks me if I like my new job and how often I’ve been to the gym. It’s feels awkward. It’s definitely over.

There will always be the girl next door but I imagine her to have the same closet space and either be boring or of the same cycle. I am judging her.

So we must believe in luck or attend all openings in hope of our yang. I want to trade her for the next. I will remember her till another makes me forget her. The purpose of ports is to remind you of your travels. You call on them because you are just that, a caller; a temporary guest that must not exceed his stay or miss the tide. You take shelter till the worst and best is over.

I don’t miss her, I am done with her and she is done with me. We are lines and our time was the point of our intersection. There are other lines and I will intersect them, intercept them and I will keep my line long and away from triangles and planes.

بشرى مستقبلٍ مشرق

2010-02-25T13:46:00.000-08:00

المستقبل مشرق وأنت بشرى بزوغه وبدر ما بعد الخسوف

تلك هي دبي القادمة

تلك هي دبي التي لاتزال و لكن بعيونٍ صامتة

تلك هي مدينة الوصل نوصلها كما أوصلتنا ونصلها كما وصلتنا

نحن منها و لها وسنخرج سوية من هذه الأيام الباردة ونعود إلى دفء خريفنا وربيعنا

ذاك شتائهم ونحن لنا صيفنا

لا نريد قارسهم ولن نبيع عرقنا

سقيناك بأمواتنا يا مدينة الأحياء

ولتعلمي أن ظمأك هو ظمأنا وأعلمي أنه لن يدوم

وأعلمي أن أيامك المبجلة لم تمضي بعد... لا بل لم تصل بعد

Glenn Beck gets to analyse while our Dubai Government Media Office is busy with....?

2010-02-25T07:14:00.000-08:00

This is what happens when Dubai doesn't communicate.

They get to say things like: "Iran, which owns 30% of Dubai, and wants it to fail as a message for the rest of the world that Capitalism fails."

Oh, they also say that most of our Dubai's debt is from Abu Dhabi

Great work guys! Keep streamlining, restructuring and pushing paper.

Banker Mapper

2010-02-21T16:44:00.000-08:00

I wrote this when I working late through the eve of Mapping Dubai. I was in my office in the DIFC which reminded me of my days in Deutsche Bank. The contrast was intoxicating.

Nostalgia.

Nostalgia consumed me exclusively tonight.

Working late in the building that could never be the gate it was named to be.

The itch and the twitch. The plotting of the graph.

Even the unplanned conference call at the end of the night.

The walk to the foyer and the teleport of 15 skies was still the same. But I am doing better now, I was only only elevated to the 3rd plane during my Berlin days. Was it Jesus' fault?

I swayed through the path of the royal increaser who once was but the songs were new.

All this was reminiscent of my German days only I wasn't hungry anymore.

Those are my non-German days. I am not ready to call them anything else. It is the antithesis of what I did Berlin. And if I stare at my yang long enough I am no longer yin.

I am the wayfarer whose house remains. I am the deliberator whose decision's been made.

I am mapper now who will always twitch as long as there is terrain to survey.

So tell me Mother, did you really want me to be your lawyer before God and man?

تلك هي عفيفة وسام الدباغين

2010-02-21T05:27:00.000-08:00

عليهم اللعنة. قد كفروك قبل أن يسمعوك!

من هو ذاك المعطي و متى أصبحت أنت المستلمة المستسلمة؟

أنت لا تنتنظرين الحقائق.

أنت ماريه العفيفة لا القبطية.

دعيهم يصلبون من كانو في الأمس يعبدون.

ليبكوهم بعيداً عنك يا محققة الحقائق ذلك هو إحتمالك الوحيد الجميل.

مصلك و الفاسدون

2010-02-11T02:38:00.000-08:00

مصلك يا عزيزتي يبحث عنك و انتي عنه تتهين. قالو بلادي وإن جارات علي عزيزةٌ. و نحن نقول وإن دار عليها الزمان فهي له دائرةٌ. قد سكنتني كما سكنتها. مصلك يا مدينة وصلي واصلٌ رغم أنوف و سبابات جميع الأوغاد الذين تبنيتهم عسراً. مصلك يا عزيزتي سيحقنكي به جيلك الجديد أجمعٌ. لكي يعلم الأوغاد أنهم لن يفسدو فيك من جديد. سنسيل الحبر عن جريدك بعد أن جفى و نستبدل القرطاس بالبردة. سنعيد كتابة هذا القرن الجديد ولو كره الفاسدون. اعذريني يا عزيزتي, فان اليافع توه قد أصبح متيقظاً ولكنه لكي حتى يصبح كهلا قريب اللحد هرماً.

Clarifying my position on long-term residencies and citizenship once and for all

2010-02-11T01:26:00.001-08:00

My views on the two above issues have been, unfortunately, mistranslated. In an FT article covering Mapping Dubai (podcast + prezi). Arabic summary: سيمون كير بـ"فايننشال تايمز": انتقد مشعل القرقاوي -مسؤول بهيئة الثقافة والفنون بدبي- مساعدي صاحب السمو حاكم دبي الذين "تسببوا برفع ديون دبي لمستويات عالية لتنافسهم في إرضاء الحاكم"، وتحدث "مشعل" عن برنامج للتجنيس حتى يصبح للجيلين الـ2 والـ3 من الوافدين مصلحة أكبر بدبي، ويرى "كير" أن آراء "مشعل" قد تتماشى مع آراء أسر دبي التجارية، وذلك يبشر بعودة دور الحكومة التقليدي كمنسق أكثر من كونها قوة تجارية

It is also worth noting the translation of what Dubai's economic role should be is also inaccurate.

My views on residency e.g.

My friend isn’t from here – but home is where the heart is, Lost in Migration: how the system failed Salam Nass* and UAE should be more than just a port of call and citizenship e.g. Who wants to be an Emirati? have been consistent for as long as I've had them.

Below you will find the body copy of an email I circulated to mainly expatriate friends in June 2006 that further clarifies my consistent position on granting Emirati citizenship; it's the first time I went on record with my views.

idearealistic?

It's about time I addressed the national identity issue in the UAE especially since I've already spoken about everything else that I am passionate about…

Fortunate to Dubai and, subsequently, the UAE was the British's resettlement of their major center from the coasts of Iran. Hence all the trade and smuggling that was to pass from India to Europe through Bahrain, Iraq and then Egypt would pit stop there. That was the seed of how it became the 3^rd largest re export center in the world. But it doesn't stop there… almost 100 years later it is in a unique position to truly be the beacon of hope between the secular Occident and the not so secular mid-eastern Orient. So an open door policy that functions much like the Hard Rock Café's ''love all, serve all'' slogan was adopted. And yes by various economic and social measures it has been successful.

Studying the demographics of the country closely… there is a problem. Amidst the development of the city… the issue of identity has not been addressed. Dubai may very well be a tossed salad as opposed to the exhausted advertisement of a melting pot – when moving here one doesn't really change much. In the end this is the only place where you could move to, become wealthy (as in millions) and never have to learn the language of the country!

And so this is the legacy of Le Nuevo Andalucía de Arabia. But I wonder if the price for this expedition will be the Bedouins who shepherded cattle under the scorching dry sun of Al Ain and pearl divers of the coasts of Abu Dhabi, Dubai and the rest of the coast. Granted! We could not sustain our boom without accepting the influx of knowledge and labor with a long term commitment, but we must sustain our identity. We must become Jeddah not New York.

The natives still exist and to all those who complain about being here for 30 years and not being eligible for citizenship I tell you this: Your contributions are deeply appreciated and have been duly compensated for but you have not embraced the culture… and there is a culture. And until then, you may be welcomed expatriate residents with rights and obligations as you may be anywhere else.

This is a place where people have kept a culture for centuries fairly intact while embracing the new ideas and thoughts.

Am I afraid that we may have citizens who cannot speak Arabic, do not engage in cultural practices and may not hold the same social values that Emariti's do? Of course I am.

Do I think there is a solution? Absolutely. Those who wish to continue to claim their right as being Emeriti may do well to accept that just as you may expect to receive by default all the rights as a national you will also need to give back – beyond compensated blue and white collar contribution – by embracing the culture.

I think nationalising people in the UAE is crucial and must be undertaken with strict cultural rather than intellectual and financial criteria. This is not Canada. We should start by the Bedoun families in Satwa and Qussais. Let’s not forget that their cousins in Kuwait withstood the 1991 invasion and fought alongside the nationals... we dont need that kind of a wake up call.